Not Alone
by CantHoldOn
Summary: Being alone for an extended period isn't good for anyone, not even Alice. But once you're used to it, how do you make it go away? Is there anything - or anyone - that can help stave off the empty feeling? Alice/Claire
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is just the beginning of what could turn into a long series. We'll all find out where it goes together. The idea for this story hit me while listening to the song Not Alone by All That Remains. Feel free to let me know what you think of the story - love it, hate it. Let me know.**

**I'd also like to give a shout out to my awesome beta andrella07, without whom the story would be riddled with mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'd appreciate not being sued.**

She'd been getting their signals for several days now. No, she wasn't following them. She was just traveling through the countryside, looking for survivors to help and zombies to kill. Her motorcycle and small radio were her only company.

Alice disappeared after the escape from the Detroit Umbrella facility. She had left Carlos, LJ, and Jill behind. It was done out of necessity though. Umbrella could track her, take control; she couldn't be around people, it wasn't safe… for them.

Ever since, she had been on her own. She watched the world fall into the deepest depths of destruction, and she felt the weight of it on her shoulders.

The T-virus wiped out the United States in a matter of weeks following the Raccoon City incident. Within months, it had swarmed across the world. The population of the human race had reached beyond six billion, and now the infected boasted nearly that many.

The few survivors learned to stay on the road. If they stayed in one place for too long, the undead would find them. Staying on the road seemed to be the only way to survive.

Their methods worked well enough. As many people as was reasonable were surviving. It wasn't easy. Living on the road still had its dangers. Zombies could still catch up, and they could be waiting just around the corner. Being on the road merely slowed down the inevitable.

Alice was on foot now. An unfortunate accident during the night destroyed her motorcycle. It wasn't all that surprising – it had happened before. That didn't make it any less annoying. The T-virus made her stronger, both in body and in mind.

Her powers only seemed to grow. She was getting stronger, faster, more resilient, and could do unexplainable things with her mind. She'd first found out that part in the Detroit facility. After that, it had come in bursts. It mostly happened at night with the nightmares.

All the super mind powers in the world weren't helping her at the moment. She'd be on foot until she found another vehicle that she could get running again – that was a rarity nowadays, especially so far out in the middle of nowhere.

She had begun moving again with the first light of morning. The desert stretched as far as the eye could see. Everything – humans, animals, and plants alike – were dead or dying.

She hadn't been walking all that long when something caught her attention. An abnormally large flock of crows were circling just beyond the large sand dune to her west. Something big must have died, but something was off about those crows – she could feel it. They weren't regular crows, they were infected.

And the infected went after the living.

She pulled off her sunglasses, stowing them away, and yanked back the fabric she'd had wrapped around her to protect her from the glaring sun. Alice started up the large dune, hastening her steps as she heard gunfire. If nothing else, someone was alive on the other side. With the amount of crows, though, they might not be alive for long.

At the top of the dune, she found the group of survivors she'd been hearing the broadcasts from. There were a surprising number of them, but if they didn't get away from those crows, there wouldn't be anyone left.

No, they weren't going to get away. She needed to help them, but how? Even with the walking arsenal that she was, she didn't have enough firepower to take out all those crows.

Oh well, some of the best plans weren't plans at all. They were merely desperate improvisations. That seemed appropriate.

Running down a sand dune could be tricky and dangerous at best, but that didn't stop or slow her down. She didn't have time to waste by walking. From what she could see at a distance, their bus had crashed and they'd evacuated several people, but there were some still outside.

Flames suddenly came out of nowhere. A flamethrower had been attached to their transporter. It was a good enough idea – until the man was swept off the truck by the birds, leaving the weapon to spew flames in every direction. Two people were in its path.

Now close enough, she recognized the man. Carlos. He saw the flames coming, turned to try and protect the girl in his arms.

All she had to do was will the flames to stop. It was like they hit an invisible barrier. They were hard to command, fire was uncontrollable by nature. She kept a firm hold on it, spreading out the flames and forcing them upward. It was a span of no more than ten to fifteen seconds that she had stood there and the entire flock of crows was falling back to the ground as ash.

Those ten to fifteen seconds took more strength and energy than she could have imagined. The world began to spin and darken. She lost consciousness before she ever began to fall, and never would have known the difference if she hit the ground or not.

Apparently mental superpowers weren't as sustainable as physical ones. In the process of saving her friend's life and making a lot of roasted crow, she'd put herself into a miniature coma.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I decided to go ahead and update with a new chapter, since the first doesn't give much more than a recap of the happenings in Extinction. From here on out the story picks up and will start taking on a life of its own.**

**Again, love it, hate it... let me know.**

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**There had been no nightmares, no dreams, nothing. It was just the endless, black expanse of unconsciousness. Honestly, it was a nice change of pace. The mini-coma offered up the best sleep she'd gotten in months.

When she woke, her bag and jacket were gone, and she wasn't alone. She brought a hand up to rub her forehead and noticed a new accessory on her wrist – a woven bracelet. She shifted a bit to push herself up onto one elbow.

"Hi," a young blonde teen greeted her with a smile.

"Hey," Alice said with a nod. "Does this belong to you?" she asked, referring to the bracelet.

"I gave it to you last night," the girl nodded. "It's for luck."

"Thank you. What's your name?"

"K-Mart," the girl answered, making Alice quirk a questioning brow. "That's where they found me a couple years back."

"Do you have another name?"

"I did… but all my friends and family are dead, I figured it was time for a change."

"I can understand that," Alice assured her, fully sitting up now. "Where are the others?"

"Outside," K-Mart answered. "We lost a few people when the crows attacked… they're just finishing up with the graves."

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner."

"If you didn't get here when you did, there wouldn't have been anyone left to bury them… Anyways, Carlos mentioned that he knows you… I can show you where he is."

"That'd be nice."

K-Mart got up from the chair and showed the older woman back out of the motel. They'd been keeping an eye on Alice – no one really knew what she'd done, or if she would actually wake back up.

Outside, Alice saw the group of survivors standing together by a row of fresh graves. It was disheartening, people had made it this far, this long… and it could still end so quickly.

An all too familiar pang of guilt tore at her. If she would have done her job at Umbrella, if she would have just stopped it, then none of this would have happened. The T-virus getting out… it was her fault. That weight on her shoulders was only getting heavier.

"Go ahead," she told the teen, who nodded and headed over to join the group.

Alice took a few steps in the opposite direction, seeing Carlos and a particularly pretty redhead walking towards her. "Alice, this is Claire Redfield, she put this convoy together," the man introduced them.

"Nice to meet you," Alice said with a nod. She studied the other woman, quickly and easily taking in nearly every detail.

It took a lot to unnerve Claire Redfield. The way the blonde looked at her… There was an intensity to her gaze, something she'd never seen before. It was almost a relief when she heard someone call her name from behind them. "If you'll excuse me… I've still got some stuff to take care of," she said, dismissing herself, but still feeling that gaze on her as she walked away.

"It's been quite a while." Carlos' voice pulled the blonde back to reality. "Where'd you go after Detroit?"

"Umbrella was tracking me," Alice shook her head. "I couldn't be around any of you. I couldn't be around people."

"But you came back. Why?"

Her honest answer was that she missed human contact. After such a long period of being alone, she needed to be around someone, have someone to talk to. She risked all of their lives just to try and get rid of the lonesome feeling.

She'd never admit it, though.

"I had a feeling I'd need to save your ass again," she finally answered. "And it looks like I was right."

That brought a smile to the man's face; she even got a chuckle out of him. "I can't say you had bad timing, I thought we were done for. Thank you." Without asking permission or giving her time to protest, he reached over and pulled Alice into a hug.

Real, human contact… it was something she'd taken for granted. It was something she'd missed more than she could have ever imagined.

It was not long before Carlos' name was called and he had to go help with something. Alice honestly didn't mind. Though she was surrounded by other people, she still felt as isolated as ever. Perhaps it was because she wasn't one of them anymore. Umbrella had turned her into something more, something… she didn't even know what she was anymore.

She could still feel her heart beating. She still needed to breathe. Though infected, she wasn't one of the undead – she wasn't anything like what Matt had turned into, either. The only other person infected on such a level that she knew of was a little girl, but even she had needed the anti-virus to keep it in check.

Alice had been forced to kill Angela against her will. That was a big part of why she'd distanced herself from all human contact. If Umbrella could make her do that, who would be the next person they forced her to kill?

Lost in her thoughts, for the first time in a very long time another person managed to come up without her noticing immediately. She'd been leaning against a rusty old gas pump and nearly jumped out of her skin when Claire walked around in front of her.

"Hey, I just wanted to say thanks… for earlier," Claire said. "We really appreciate what you did, but…"

"But how long am I staying?" Alice finished the question for her.

"It's not that we aren't grateful, because we are. Really," the redhead tried to reassure her. "Everyone saw what you did and they're talking… they're scared."

"I can't say that I blame them. I'm not safe," the blonde admitted, making Claire quirk a brow. "People have a tendency of dying around me."

"Not just you," Claire replied solemnly before looking away.

Those three words made Alice realize that the other woman had lost a great deal as well. She offered Claire a nod. "I'm not here to hurt anyone," she said after a moment. "I just wanted to help, that's all."

"Just… don't get their hopes up," the redhead said after a moment. "They've all had enough disappointments. They can't take much more."

"I understand. Like I said, I had just wanted to help." And if it hadn't been for her, not only would Carlos and the teen be dead, but likely the rest of them because of the crows. She didn't voice that though.

"And we appreciate it." Claire turned and walked away after that. Just like before, she could feel that intense gaze on her even as she left. It was unsettling, but not exactly unwelcome.


	3. Chapter 3

Claire didn't know how she felt about this strange newcomer. Obviously the blonde was good to have in your corner, but there was something… off, about her. It was something Claire couldn't place.

Carlos had said her name was Alice, but wouldn't say much more with the excuse that she wouldn't want him to. She was quiet and seemed to be disconnected not from the world, but from other people.

That in itself wasn't exactly unusual. Really, who wasn't affected by the past few years of constant terror? Alice was different, though. She wasn't afraid of the world. If anything, she seemed to be afraid of herself.

Sitting out by the fire that night, Claire's mind was still wandering. She was trying to figure out the newcomer, despite knowing very little about her. If she made up some back story, then maybe she'd feel better about having the other woman around.

Considering that she thought everyone else was safely asleep, she visibly jumped when a voice interrupted her thoughts. "Mind if I join you?"

She looked up to see the person that had been occupying her thoughts, standing to her left and slightly behind her. "Go ahead," she answered after a moment.

Alice nodded and sat down across the fire from the redhead. Since she didn't really have anything to say – mostly because her social skills had gone downhill after being alone for so long – they sat in an awkward silence. Both were watching the fire between them, occasionally glancing up at the other.

"So, how'd you do it?" Claire asked, finally breaking their silence or at least breaking it momentarily. She watched as the other woman visibly struggled with whether or not to answer, and how to do it.

"I don't think you're ready to know that, yet," Alice finally said. It was a generic answer that would hopefully suffice.

"I'm not ready?" the redhead repeated, quirking a brow. "I think I'm ready for just about anything. After surviving this apocalypse and keeping as many people alive as I can, I can handle anything you throw at me."

Finally, Alice brought her gaze up to meet Claire's over the flames. "I… am probably Umbrella's most prized lab rat." She could see something close to betrayal flash through the other's eyes. "They just didn't count on the fact that they can't control me." _Most of the time_.

Claire held Alice's gaze for several long moments before it became too much. She had to avert her eyes, choosing to instead look back into the fire between them. "So, what you're saying is…"

"I'm infected," again Alice finished for her. "On a massive level. I'm not contagious though."

Once more, silence settled between them. It had gone from somewhat awkward to downright uncomfortable. Claire didn't know what to make of this new information. How could Carlos expect her to trust someone that just admitted to being infected?

"I used to work for Umbrella." This time, it was Alice that broke their unpleasant silence. "I was head of security at a high-tech facility they called The Hive. They worked on pharmaceuticals there, including viral weaponry. That was where the virus first broke out… on my watch."

She was quiet for a moment after that, unsure as to why she was actually telling this other woman – someone she didn't even know – what had happened. "Everyone in the facility died, but I'm sure you can guess that they didn't stay dead. A tactical team came in to clean up the mess and figure out what happened. That was when we realized we were pretty much in over our heads. No one on the team survived. Two of us got out of the facility alive, and Umbrella used us to experiment on."

"They said I somehow bonded with the virus," Alice continued on. "I'm stronger and faster than a normal human… in fact, I haven't exactly felt human since Raccoon City."

"So they… turned you into a human experiment?" The disbelief was evident in Claire's voice. "How could they?"

"Look at what they've done to the world," Alice replied, motioning to the endless desert around them. "A little human experimentation was nothing."

This new information didn't make Claire feel any better about having the new woman around. She had worked for Umbrella… hell, she just said she "didn't exactly feel human." That could turn her into a liability at some point. Then again, the blonde seemed to have just as much reason to fight against the infection as the rest of them.

It was like Alice could read her mind. "If you don't want me to stay, I'll leave," the blonde offered.

The convoy leader didn't offer up a response immediately. She was mulling things over in her head. She could respect what it took for Alice to recount what had happened – even if only in part. At the same time, she could turn into a problem for the survivors down the road.

If she was careful, Claire could sneak glances at the other woman from time to time. In that intense gaze, there looked to be a storm raging. There was anger and fear directed at herself, anger projected outward at what the world had become, a need for revenge, and underneath all of it – if Claire managed to watch her long enough to see it – was loneliness.

For some reason that was completely beyond her, she wanted to help get rid of that lonely look. "I don't think there would be a problem if you stayed a while," she finally said with a faint nod.

"Thank you," Alice told her sincerely. Though being around people again might be hard to get used to, she was very glad to have the chance at it.

This time when the silence settled between them, it wasn't nearly as tense. In fact, it wasn't unpleasant at all. Even if they were both still wary, the company of each other was comforting.

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**A/N: I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Feedback is fantastic, so you know the drill... love it, hate it, let me know.**


	4. Chapter 4

"_Alaska_? Have you gone mental?" Claire inquired. K-Mart, sitting to her left and Carlos, sitting to her right were staying quiet on the subject so far. Alice, Mikey, and Chase weren't being so quiet.

"Claire - this transmissions log is the best sign of life we've seen in a long time," Mikey said, looking back down to the red notebook in his hands.

"Yeah, and it's dated _six months_ ago," the convoy leader pointed out with a shake of her head. "A lot can happen in six months. How many times have we responded to a call and it has been too late?"

"They said there's no infection up there," Alice offered up. "It's isolated… safe."

Claire shook her head, looking out the back of the transporter. "These people… they trust me with their lives. I can't put all of their hope in a pipe dream."

Carlos, who'd been watching the people outside the truck, finally looked up to Claire. "Maybe that's exactly what they need," he suggested, earning himself quite the fiery look from the redhead. "They're losing hope. There's little more than half of us left… if they give up, then it's all over. They need something to look forward to."

The leader honestly could have smacked Carlos for disagreeing with her. He was supposed to be on her side, after all. She just didn't think it was a good idea to put this group's faith in a journey that would take so long, especially when they didn't know if anyone was still alive up there.

"I'm not making this decision," she finally said.

"But, Claire -"

"- I said that _I_ won't make the decision," Claire cut off Mikey when he had tried to speak again. "This is too big of a decision for one person to make. The whole convoy will vote on it."

The others in the truck seemed to accept that answer. They filed out one by one, joining the others that were outside. Carlos stayed close to the truck, and so did Alice.

Claire moved and crouched down at the end of the truck bed. "Everybody listen up," she told them. "There's a decision we have to make. It's too big, too important for me to make for you. We just found out that there is a chance there are other survivors… in Alaska."

She paused a moment to let them take in the information. "There is a _chance_ that the infection hasn't spread that far yet. There is a _chance_ that there are people still alive up there. We don't have any guarantees though. So now we have a decision to make: we can stay as we are now, or head north. For Alaska?"

Slowly, each and every hand crept up into the air. "Alaska," Claire said quietly with a nod.

Who knew that one word could make the people so happy? They were cheering and hugging each other as their hopes were renewed.

When the convoy leader moved to get down, she was surprised that Alice offered her help. After a moment's contemplation, she took the blonde's hand and jumped down. It almost felt like electricity was humming through her, emanating from where their hands touched. Glancing up, she could see in Alice's eyes that the other felt it too.

Getting a hold of her wits again, she pulled her hand back. "I hope you're right," she told the blonde.

"Isn't it at least worth the chance of finding someone alive?" Alice asked.

"That's not the only thing I have to think about here," Claire pointed out. "I have a convoy of people who are far too close to giving up. Another disappointment could be the end."

"They have hope now… it's more than they had a few minutes ago."

Claire stood there and studied Alice for a long moment. She couldn't deny that the other woman was right. Hope offered up much more than the survivors had just moments before. Hope could renew the will to live. "I just don't want anyone to be disappointed if we don't find anything."

It was hard for the redhead to stay put under the crushing weight of that smoldering gaze, feeling stripped of everything and more exposed than ever before. Honestly, why did Alice have to be so unsettling? Did she not realize that her intense looks made others nervous?

"They expect you to be strong," the blonde commented. It was almost random. "As their leader, they expect you to stay strong through everything and have all the answers. They look to you for safety, for peace of mind."

Alice paused a moment, waiting for a response – confirmation or denial. She got nothing. "I'm not looking for that. I don't expect you to be strong or have every answer. You don't have to prove anything to me."

At first, Claire actually didn't know how to respond to the statement. Once again, the strange and distant newcomer was right. The convoy looked to her to make the decisions, to have all the answers, and to keep them alive. Then Alice flat out said she didn't need to be taken care of.

While it was a relief not to have another life in her hands, she didn't know how to take the information. Obviously the blonde could take care of herself, but calling Claire out like that. In a situation like this, the best way out was to just completely change the subject.

"Since this was your idea, I expect you to help us get there," the redhead stated. "Even planning the trip. We'll have a meeting tonight and you're going to be a part of it."

"No problem," Alice replied with a nod.

Claire studied the other woman for another moment or two. Something about her attitude was just irritating. One minute she was putting insane ideas in others' heads, the next she was calling the convoy leader out, and then she was all cooperative. That wasn't even mentioning the few moments they'd shared the night before. She was completely unpredictable and that was just… infuriating.

The redhead shook her head and turned to take care of something, just needing an excuse to walk away. There were always plenty of tasks to keep one occupied in the convoy, and right now she wanted to be occupied.

She actually managed to stay busy for the rest of the afternoon, thankfully. From time to time, she felt a heavy weight on her. She'd felt it before, she knew what it was: Alice was watching her. If she glanced up quickly enough, she could catch the blonde in the act. Catching her brought the faintest of smirks to Claire's lips, it was actually quite satisfying.

By the time night fell and everyone else had gone to bed, the convoy leader gathered up the small group that had initially discussed Alaska. They sat around a small campfire, now trying to figure out how to cross thousands of miles and head north.

"If we're going to make this trip, we're going to need to resupply," Carlos pointed out the obvious as he pulled out a map. "Our next safest bet is… here."

"No, it's empty," Alice shook her head. "I was just there."

Claire really needed a cigarette at the moment. Just thinking about the journey was stressful in itself; trying to figure out how to get there… well, it made her want a nicotine fix like none other. She didn't even have to look at the map to know where they'd have to go in order to find proper supplies.

"Okay," Carlos was speaking again. "Then I guess we can try here."

The convoy leader cut off whatever debate was about to start. "Vegas," she said. "We have to go to Vegas. That's the only place we'll be sure to find fuel and other supplies."

"There's a reason for that," the older man pointed out. "Vegas is too damn dangerous. It'll be crawling with the undead."

"She's right," Alice spoke up again. "Vegas is our only bet."

There was that infuriating unpredictability again. Claire gave Alice a pointed look, even though she was secretly thankful for the support.

With a plan - no matter how dangerous - they were working toward their ultimate goal. If nothing else, it gave their convoy hope. That was really what they needed right now.

Since there was no room left for debate, most everyone around the campfire disbanded. Claire got up to make sure K-Mart went to get some rest. They were all going to need it if they went to Las Vegas.

After the teen was settled safely in the Hummer, Claire went back to put out the fire. Her steps slowed and completely stopped when she saw that not everyone had gone to bed. Carlos and Alice were still there – they were sitting next to each other.

"So is this better than being alone?" Carlos asked.

"I suppose you could say that," Alice answered after a moment.

"It's going to be like that?" he inquired. "Come on, I know you like being around people again, even if you won't admit it." For the second time, he put an arm around her and pulled her halfway into an embrace.

A jolt of unexplainable jealousy flooded Claire's veins. She cleared her throat with purpose, stepping closer to the campfire. It had exactly the effect she wanted; Carlos retrieved his arm from around the other woman.

"Claire," he greeted her with a nod. "I thought you turned in for the night." He looked over as Alice put some distance between them. She wasn't even looking at him, she was looking up at the redhead, and he knew that look. It was the same way he used to look at Alice and then Claire when he joined the convoy.

_Interesting._

"I just wanted to make sure K-Mart went and got some rest. You should do the same. Vegas isn't going to be a walk in the park," Claire told him, a little more short than usual.

"Right," Carlos nodded, looking between the two women once more. "I'll just… go get some rest." There were no protests as he got up and headed back to his truck.

Claire crossed her arms over her chest as she looked back toward Alice. There was something almost accusing to the redhead's gaze. "What is this?" she asked.

"What is… what?" Alice questioned in return, her impassive attitude unwavering.

"Don't act like you don't know," the convoy leader shook her head. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Actually, I think you're going to have to explain," Alice replied, getting up and stepping around the fire to close the distance between them.

Claire wanted to take a step back to keep some distance in order to keep her thought processes working, but she stayed put. "Explain? I've seen the way you look at me; it's not the same way you look at the others. You watched me almost all afternoon. That's not even mentioning whatever happened last -" she was suddenly cut off.

Alice's lips were pressed against Claire's in a gentle, almost timid embrace. She wasn't pushing anything; it was more of a test to see if she'd get a response. After a few seconds of initial shock, the redhead did respond and deeply returned the kiss.

**A/N: Yep, this was a long one, but I had a lot to cover. I hope you all enjoyed it - especially the ending, I know that's something everyone's been waiting for.**


	5. Chapter 5

Las Vegas. They had just enough fuel to cross the nearly 100 mile journey. Tensions were running high throughout the convoy. They couldn't sugarcoat the fact that this would likely be the most dangerous trip they made yet.

Claire was leading the pack in her Hummer. She wasn't alone in it though – Alice was in the front seat with her, K-Mart and a couple other people in the convoy took up the back seat.

Everyone was silent. They were all very somber, trying to bolster the courage to face the untold horrors they were sure would be waiting. The city had been so crowded before the outbreak; there was no question that they'd face a nearly unending horde of undead.

Each mile closer went by a little faster than the one before it. Though everyone had wanted to take their time, it felt like they'd just left the motel when the first signs of Vegas popped up on the horizon.

The city certainly didn't hold what they expected. There were no masses of starving undead ready to tear them limb from limb. All they found was sand, and a lot of it; some structures were halfway buried.

"Oh my God," Claire said, pulling down her sunglasses to make sure she was seeing things right.

"What happened?" K-Mart questioned from the back.

"Five years and no one to hold the sand back… the desert reclaimed the city," Alice answered.

"But there's nothing here… not even the infected," the teenager pressed.

"Those crows probably moved through the city and picked it dry," Alice pointed out. "And once there was nothing left, they moved on."

"Ms. Redfield," the radio buzzed to life as Chase spoke. "LJ here claims there's a fueling station at the casino just down the way."

Claire reached over and grabbed the radio. "Got it. That's where we'll stop," she told them.

They just ran into a small problem when they got to the casino in question. A large shipping container was directly in their path. Honestly, it seemed a bit random – the container was the only thing actually above the sand.

"Damn it," the redhead swore as she brought the Hummer to a stop. The container was going to be a hell of a lot of trouble to move. "Everybody spread out," she told the others as she got out of the vehicle. "Eyes open, stay alert. Chase, I need a lookout." She motioned for the cowboy to climb up the Eiffel Tower replica.

Those who could fight well enough spread out to keep a safe perimeter around the area. The people who couldn't stayed in the safety of their armored vehicles. The city was too quiet.

"Mikey, get the wench. Let's move this thing and get the hell out of here," Claire said as Carlos and Mikey joined her. The younger man nodded and went back to retrieve the line to the wench.

Alice pulled out one of her shotguns and walked over to the container. There was just something off about it. Sure it looked old and beat up enough, but it wasn't buried by the sand. In fact, it looked like it had been dropped recently; the sand hadn't even drifted around it.

When she heard the wench being pulled loose, she motioned back to the others to hold on, "Wait." That was all it took for weapons to be drawn and suspicions to rise.

The blonde took a few steps closer and leaned in toward the container. A few moments of silence and she heard it: that low, guttural moan that announced the presence of the infected.

"Get back!" she barked, backing off rather quickly herself.

No sooner had she put about fifteen feet between herself and the container, and it dropped open. Several tense seconds ticked by before all hell broke loose. At least two dozen infected rushed forth from the container. They weren't your run of the mill undead either. They had on jumpsuits and were far more aggressive and much stronger than anything you'd find wandering the streets.

Gunfire erupted from all sides as the undead charged forward. It wouldn't have been quite as bad if they were regular infected. These new threats however, posed a huge problem.

People began to die quite quickly as the waves of undead made it past the first line of defense. Two went after K-Mart. "Cover me!" Claire told Carlos, not waiting for a confirmation before turning to help the teenager.

Alice traded the shotgun for her kukri blades, deciding conserving ammunition would prove useful later. She was the only one that willingly got close enough to the infected for hand to hand – or in this case, hand to knife – combat. The blades were just as effective as guns, since she was able to easily cut down as many infected.

Claire was incredibly glad to see that K-Mart had safely made it back inside one of the vehicles, but that feeling didn't last long. Two infected grabbed her, throwing her back onto the ground. The two were standing over her, but thankfully her pistol wasn't far behind and a couple of well aimed shots promoted the two to fully dead.

The redhead didn't have time to regroup though. There were people dying all around. She got up and ran to the transporter, yanking one of the undead from the back and giving him the same promotion as the others. "Get to the back and stay quiet," she told everyone inside.

Alice chased a group of undead into an open air building with the intention of saving the people they were after. She succeeded in cutting apart the undead, but two of the three people she meant to help didn't make it. Satisfied only when each one of them was laying in pieces at her feet, she turned to rejoin the others outside. Unfortunately, she was stopped short. Her eyes flickered with the Umbrella symbol and everything went black.

Claire ran out of ammunition for her pistols and quickly made her way to one of the trucks. As she grabbed a rifle she heard K-Mart shout nearby and looked up to see Mikey trying to scramble away from an infected female. "Hey!" she yelled. It was enough of a distraction to put a bullet through the undead's brain, but she had to reload.

She reached back into the truck and grabbed a couple of discarded bullets, scrambling to get them into the chamber. It seemed to take five times as long as it should have. When she finally got the gun loaded, she found that it was too late. Mikey had been ambushed by three more undead.

"No!" She moved forward, shooting at the undead that were tearing into the young man. Anger and desperation affected her aim and it took several shots to finally kill the three infected cannibals.

It was too late for Mikey. He was laying on the ground, blood everywhere. Frustration welled up inside the convoy leader to the point that it tore itself out of her in a purely distressed cry that carried across the sand.

Alice's eyes flickered again. Something in her registered the anguished sound that carried over to her.

_Not again_.

Umbrella, Isaacs wouldn't do this to her again. Her mind fought against the paralysis that gripped at her. She was stronger than any program could ever hope to be. Again, her eyes flashed as she internally struggled against the condition forced upon her.

Finally, something cracked and she managed to temporarily incapacitate the satellite that had been emitting the signal. She blinked several times as the world came back to her. Unfortunately for Isaacs and the team he likely had with him, she knew exactly where they were.

The first thing she noticed was a pair of undead feasting on a fallen member of the convoy. She whistled to get their attention before jumping from the building onto the shipping container. From there, she leapt down to the ground and beheaded the two infected on the way.

The blonde booked it across the sand. She was moving quicker than any remaining survivors could have imagined. Honestly though, one had a better chance of surviving an unending horde of undead rather than a pissed off Alice.

Claire was just as surprised as the others by the blonde's sudden determination to get… somewhere. She couldn't exactly find out where the other woman was going at the moment, they had wounded to tend to.

"Find out where the hell she's going," she said to anyone who was within earshot and able to go after Alice. It just so happened to be K-Mart.

Alice forced her way into the building and was taking the stairs two at a time as she raced up to the roof. The men responsible for this massacre were on top of this building and she wasn't going to just let them get away. She could have put a marathon runner to shame with how quickly she got up the stairs and out into the sunlight.

Her pistols were drawn, hands shaking violently as she could feel them trying to shut her down again. Her knuckles had gone white because of the impossible grip she had on the guns – she was close to drawing blood.

Soon enough, that wouldn't matter. She stepped into the tent, planting bullets in every Umbrella soldier standing or sitting inside. The man she wanted to kill wasn't there though.

Outside, she heard the helicopter start up again. She walked out just in time to see it lift off and flee the area with Dr. Isaacs in tow. There had been a wide opening for her to shoot the helicopter down, but she passed it up.

"Why didn't you shoot?" K-Mart asked, breathless as she jogged over.

"We're not driving to Alaska," Alice answered, holstering the pistols. "Let's go check the computers, see where that chopper's heading."

The teen followed Alice into the white tent. It only took a few minutes at the computer and they found that there was a complex not far from their current position. They could commandeer that chopper and get the hell out of Dodge.

There were only about a dozen or so members of the convoy left once the dust settled. They only stayed long enough to get the fuel to carry them to the Umbrella complex, and then put the horrors of Vegas behind them.

This drive wasn't nearly as long and only had a few vehicles in the procession. They stopped a good distance away from the complex itself – the element of surprise would be imperative here.

Claire had pulled the Hummer a little further away from the rest of the group. She needed some space after all that had happened.

Jesus, they'd lost Mikey, Chase, LJ, and so many others. Carlos had gotten bit. She had failed the people she was charged with protecting. It was almost more than she could handle.

Confident she was alone and the others far too preoccupied to notice, Claire let her fists meet the yellow metal of her vehicle over and over again. She kicked at the tire, pounded at the door, looking for something to get rid of the weight that threatened to strangle her.

Of course she never heard anyone come up behind her. The first sign that anyone was close was a hand on her shoulder. The grip was gentle, yet very firm as she was pulled away from the abused vehicle.

"Come here." Those two words, however soft, left absolutely no room for protest. Alice pulled the redhead away from the vehicle and toward herself, wrapping her arms around the other woman.

Claire wanted to fight against the blonde. She wanted to protest and refuse the comfort being offered. However, whatever strength she'd put into her mistreatment of the Hummer was now gone. Slowly, she began to cave in.

"It's all right, Claire."

The reassurance proved to be too much. What had started out as no more than a couple of sniffles gave way to a torrent of emotion. She slumped in Alice's arms as violent, heart-wrenching sobs ripped themselves free from her.

The world was going to hell around her. Too many people she cared about were dead. There was little hope of long term survival. How could she have been foolish enough to think they'd make it?

In all this negativity, she couldn't help but notice one thing: someone was right here, holding her on her feet. Alice didn't need her to be strong, didn't need to be protected from the harsh light of day. Instead, the blonde was standing here keeping her steady as she let herself break for the first time in at least five years.

No matter how exposed Claire let herself be at the moment, Alice was there to hold everything together for her, protect her. It was the most peace of mind the redhead found since the outbreak.

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**A/N: Yet another long chapter, but there was a lot to cover again. Love it, hate it - let me know.**


	6. Chapter 6

Claire, Alice, K-Mart, and Carlos had perched themselves on a cliff overlooking the very unimpressive Umbrella complex. Then again, Umbrella seemed to like operating underground, so there were probably several stories beneath the shack.

They also had an army of undead to contend with. Fortunately these were the regular, every day infected cannibals. In such a number though, they were going to pose quite the problem.

"Good thing we like a challenge," Alice commented, lowering the binoculars.

"You call this just a challenge?" K-Mart questioned. "I think that's a bit of an understatement."

"I have an idea," Carlos said before coughing up a mouthful of blood. "It's too late for me and you all need to get inside." Before any of them could question him, he was up off the ground and moving back toward the vehicles.

Alice got up and followed the man. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I'll take the last bit of our dynamite and the tanker… blow a hole in that mass for you guys to get through," the man answered plainly.

"Carlos," Claire's voice came from directly behind Alice.

"Hey, you all need a way in there and pretty soon I'm going to be one of them. I'd rather die the way I want to, then turn into one of those things," Carlos told her. He wasn't leaving much room for protest. It needed to be done, no matter how much they didn't want it to. "I'll go get ready."

"Jesus… and I didn't think this could get any worse," Claire commented as she watched Carlos walk away.

"When we get down there, we're going to have to move fast. You're going to need plenty of time to get that chopper off the ground," Alice said, turning to face the other woman.

The redhead stared at her for a long moment, knowing what the other meant but hardly believing it. "You're not coming." It was a statement, rather than question.

"One of the men responsible for all of this is down in that facility. Umbrella will never quit hunting me if I don't stop them," Alice told her. Now the tables had turned on her and she was the one feeling uncomfortable under Claire's intense, almost anger filled gaze.

"You tell us about Alaska, give everyone hope again, and now you're not even coming." The convoy leader was obviously unhappy. She was close to furious with Alice; the fury only came from the fact that she knew there would be no changing the blonde's mind. "Isn't it bad enough we've already lost so many people? I… I can't lose you too."

"I have to finish this with Umbrella," Alice said, almost to the point of pleading. "If I go to Alaska without ending things with them, I can't guarantee they won't find me."

Claire considered tying the other woman up and dragging her along to Alaska. That way she'd know Alice was safe and still with her. She knew it would never happen though. "Promise me something," she then stated.

That wasn't exactly what the blonde expected. "All right," she agreed after a moment.

"I can't leave without knowing you'll be okay," Claire said, stepping forward to close the distance between them. She reached up with both hands, placing them on Alice's cheeks, and pulled the other woman in closer so that their foreheads rested against each other. The redhead closed her eyes. "Promise me you'll come back."

The best way to catch Alice off guard was with words, and Claire had just succeeded twice in a row. "I promise," the blonde vowed. The pledge was sealed with a kiss. As realization struck that this would be the last intimate moment they could share – at least for a while – passion unbridled itself and flooded out between the two, leaving them both a bit breathless.

The redhead was reluctant to break the contact, but she slowly pulled back. "I'm going to hold you to that," she grumbled.

"Trust me," Alice told her.

After that tender moment, things seemed to go by in a blur. They said their goodbyes to Carlos, Claire taking a moment to comfort K-Mart who didn't handle the news well at all. Losing someone else, even though it was a willing sacrifice to help them, was hard to swallow after everything that had happened in Vegas.

As they returned to the vehicles, Alice got in the driver's seat of the Hummer. She was taking most of the weight of the situation onto her own shoulders so that Claire wouldn't have to. They drove alongside Carlos as long as they could before falling back.

Inside the yellow vehicle, they could only watch as the tanker powered forward before the man lost control and the truck flipped onto its side. A few seconds after, it had come to a stop; the first explosion set off a chain reaction that not only killed Carlos, but took out a large area of undead.

Alice hit the gas, not even waiting for the smoke to clear before charging through the opening and the Hummer lunged forward. They only had a few precious minutes and hesitation would cost them valuable time.

They came to a skidding halt inside the perimeter of the facility. The Army transporter wasn't far behind. Alice and K-Mart jumped out of the vehicle, running to the large truck. "Everybody out!" Alice said, reaching up to help a couple of children down. "Get them to the helicopter!"

Claire was already at the chopper. She jumped in and started flipping switches, prepping it to leave. "Let's go!" she called back to the others.

K-Mart ran to the chopper, a couple others in tow. She was closely followed by Alice who had been carrying a child and handed the boy over. She also handed over the red notebook that held the promise of sanctuary in Alaska.

"You aren't coming?" the teen asked.

Alice shook her head and took a few steps back. "Take care of the others. Good luck, K-Mart. Claire." Looking at the convoy leader, she saw whatever anger had been boiling earlier was now replaced with a sad sort of resignation.

The blonde felt it too. She must have been crazy not to leave with them, with Claire. The woman reminded her of what she missed so much, of why being alone could hurt so badly, but if she left with them, Umbrella would follow. At least this way she could distract Umbrella and give them a chance to get to safety.

A knot formed in the pit of her stomach as she watched the helicopter lift from the ground. In a matter of moments, it was in the air and heading north. _Time to take care of unfinished business._

Alice turned and headed into the little shack. The floor separated as she walked inside and revealed an elevator. Just as she expected, there was a large hive complex below, and it housed Dr. Isaacs.

It was a long ride down the elevator, but it went by very quickly. Soon enough she was stepping out onto the main floor of the complex, which was now in bloody shambles.

"Hello." The hologram of a young girl appeared next to Alice.

The blonde quirked a brow and looked to the Artificial Intelligence unit standing beside her. "I knew your sister… she was a homicidal bitch."

"My sister computer was only acting in the most logical way," the White Queen replied.

"Right… so what happened here?"

"Dr. Isaacs returned in an infected state after his attempt to recapture you," the White Queen answered matter-of-factly. "He had correctly deduced that your blood can help manufacture a cure for those infected with the T-virus."

"My blood?"

"Indeed. This lab holds all you would need to create such a cure… but you must first take care of Dr. Isaacs."

Alice shook her head. "Always a catch," she muttered. "All right, where is he?"

The White Queen motioned toward a door on the far wall. "I have him contained in the lower levels. I cannot keep him there much longer."

"And it would be terrible for him to get out." Alice's voice was dripping with sarcasm. She pulled out a pistol and headed for the door. What lay on the other side was nothing short of a scene from a horror movie. Blood covered almost every surface, everything was overturned, and she could even see men impaled on some sort of makeshift spikes in one of the other rooms.

In the middle of the lab was perhaps the most disturbing thing: a clone of herself, suspended in some sort of liquid bubble. That had just as an unsettling effect on her, and reminded her of when she'd woken up in the Detroit facility.

There was no time for reminiscing as Isaacs came out of nowhere. He hit her, knocking her into the bubble. She quickly recovered, driving one of her kukri blades into his shoulder. He quickly retreated after that, running off into another part of the facility.

She would have gone after him, but the bubble holding her clone broke. She moved quickly enough to catch the clone. The moment was very surreal as the clone sputtered a few times, trying to breathe a few times but coming out unsuccessful.

Watching herself – well, a clone of herself – die gave Alice even more fuel to destroy Isaacs. Cloning her just wasn't acceptable. She laid the genetic copy down on the ground and covered her with her coat before getting up.

Alice followed the trail of blood that Isaacs left in his wake. This place was so big; losing him had been a very, very bad idea. She didn't have much time to ponder her mistake, because she was shocked to find herself standing in a replica of the mansion during her wandering.

They had completely reconstructed the mansion, down to the little details – hell, they even had a picture of her and Spence sitting on an end table. It almost felt like she'd stepped back in time until Isaacs came out of nowhere again and swung at her.

Hand to hand combat was not the ideal situation to be in with the mutated doctor. She sliced him with her remaining blade more than once, but he healed each time. "For so long, I thought you were the future," he said. "But I was wrong. I'm the future."

"Yeah? I hope you're wrong," Alice replied. "Because it's going to be an ugly future if you aren't." She tapped into her more mental abilities and hit Isaacs with a wave that drove him back into the far wall.

She didn't expect him to return the favor. Before she had a chance to react, he'd hit her with the same type of wave and actually knocked her through a wall. It hurt a lot more than she could have imagined.

Alice quickly took in her surroundings and noticed something else equally as familiar. Gathering up what strength she had left, she dragged herself into the laser chamber and thankfully the mutated doctor took the bait. He followed her right inside.

"I'm sorry it had to end like this Alice, but you proved to be too much of a problem for us," he said as he approached. "You should have just been a good Project and cooperated with us. You'd have lived much longer."

"Well, we're both gonna die down here," the blonde told him.

He turned to see the laser grid form, but there was nowhere to run as it approached. It sliced clean through him and would have done the same to Alice, but for some reason it stopped. As the pieces of Dr. Isaacs fell to the ground, she could see the clone wrapped in her coat at the control panel.

A wave of relief crashed over Alice. She got up and stepped over the mess that was the former doctor and moved back out of the laser chamber. "Thanks," she said.

"You would've done the same for me," the clone said with a nod. "Come look at something."

Again, it was strange to see a copy, especially up and walking around, even talking now. She thought it would be unsettling, but it wasn't. There was a sense of ease between the two, though it wasn't everyday a person ran into a clone of themselves.

The clone led her to some sort of observation deck and motioned to the large window. Alice couldn't believe her eyes when she saw what was inside. A still working laptop beeped and drew her attention away. "Start the process to wake them up," she told the clone before walking over to investigate the piece of equipment.

It looked like there was a meeting of the remaining Umbrella executives. She hit a couple of keys and the camera came on, projecting her image into the meeting.

"Hey boys," she said, getting their attention. "Hide underground all you want… I'm coming for you." She smirked a bit before continuing. "Oh, and I'll be bringing a few friends."

She cut the signal off with a few more keystrokes. They could try to stop her from reaching them, but they wouldn't be able to. Alice turned and walked back over to the observation deck in time to see what likely amounted to hundreds of her clones beginning to wake up.

The odds just took a huge swing in their favor.

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**A/N: Oh nooooooo (yes that was my awesome Cartman impression), we ran out of Extinction timeline. Never fear, kiddies, the story must go on. You can look forward to a transition to Afterlife which I am eagerly working on and much more story to come.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Just so everyone is on the same page, this chapter will transition us over to the Afterlife timeline. If you haven't seen the movie yet: 1) what's wrong with you?, and 2) if you don't want any spoilers, I suggest not reading any further.**

**Now that we have that all cleared up, please don't hurt me for a lack of Claire in this chapter. I promise she'll come back soon and I don't think anyone will be disappointed with her return. I just needed to cover that year gap between Extinction and Afterlife - Alice had to be doing _something_ in that time, after all.**

**As always... love it, hate it - let me know.**

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Three long months underground would be enough to drive anyone to the very limits of their sanity. The fact that she was surrounded by hundreds of copies of herself and an incessant, snotty AI brat didn't help Alice's mental boundaries. Things were getting to be too much to handle.

Sure, being surrounded by women that had the exact same temperament and attitude as she did should have been a breeze. It was far from being easy.

Alice – the _real_ Alice – felt like she was lost in an unending sea of herself. Every time she turned around, there was an exact copy of her. At least she could talk to them, they had some understanding of how she felt and what she was going through. She was the only one that knew about Claire though.

More and more often, her mind drifted above ground, replaying the few memories she had of the convoy leader. They hadn't even spent a handful of days together in the desert, but the memories were fond ones. It was like her head was on repeat and it distracted her from the work at hand.

They were working on a cure for the T-virus. It wasn't going as smoothly as Alice or the White Queen would have liked. There were constant complications and at this rate they'd never get it done.

The Artificial Intelligence unit was always hovering over Alice's shoulder. What the girl considered helpful wasn't all that helpful unfortunately. She only proved to be annoying at best.

"That's not the correct amount," the holographic child stated haughtily.

"Is it ever?" Alice snapped, close to the breaking point. "How can you even be sure this will cure them?"

"It will domesticate the infected masses," the White Queen answered. "Of this, I am quite certain. After domestication, they can be used as a work force for their remaining active years. Dr. Isaacs correctly concluded that they will remain active for at least a decade, even without any form of sustenance."

Alice looked over at the hologram, a deep frown creasing her brow. She was trying to make sense of what she'd just heard. "_Domesticate_ them?" she repeated. "You want to turn them into a work force… that obeys Umbrella's every command."

Of course that would be the plan. After all, the White Queen was still a part of Umbrella. With a massive undead army the company could take over the surface again and flush out any remaining survivors – turning them into part of that army too.

"It will be a far better situation than the one we are currently in," the White Queen finally reasoned.

"No," Alice shook her head. "We're done. I'm not going to give Umbrella an army like that."

"You do not have a choice. This must be done to prevent further infection."

"Further infection? We don't even know if there's anyone left alive," Alice pointed out. The statement made her chest constrict.

It was true though, she didn't know what had happened to the survivors she put on a helicopter and watched fly away. There was a very good possibility that something bad could have happened – but she was sure she'd have felt some finality of it if that was the case.

Alice didn't wait for the White Queen to respond. She got up from the lab table she'd been sitting at. "Listen up," she said, loud enough for the clones milling about to hear. "We've wasted enough time on this. Now we're going to do something more productive. When we get to the surface our first priority will be weapons and vehicles, understood?"

The sea of genetic copies all nodded to confirm they understood.

**Nine months later…**

It was quite the undertaking, gathering enough weapons, ammunition, and supplies to get from Nevada to Japan. They plundered what they could from the Nevada Hive, much to the White Queen's disapproval. After that, they'd hit a few major cities to find what they needed. Usually that would be a dangerous task, but with the small super-army they formed, it wasn't that hard at all.

Spending a year with so many copies of herself inspired Alice to change her look, if for nothing else than to set her apart from the rest. During the months of supplies gathering and training the clones all she knew about combat, she cut and dyed her hair. That little bit of distinction actually made her feel quite a bit better.

It had taken the better part of nine months, but eventually Alice and her army of clones made it to Japan. The base in Tokyo was the one that Wesker operated out of and if they cut off the snake's head, it would hopefully kill the rest of the beast.

The now brunette couldn't lie to herself or her copies. This was incredibly dangerous, no matter how powerful they all were. Many of them, including herself, ran the risk of not coming out alive. There was no questioning it.

They still went in with determination. Though the ultimate goal was to kill Wesker and as many Umbrella soldiers as possible, just taking out the facility would set the company back.

Once the assault started, it took hardly any time at all for the clones to overrun the Tokyo facility. It seemed that they hadn't been expecting Alice to make good on her threat, but she wasn't going to take any chances.

She knew the kind of man Wesker was. When he got the opportunity, he was going to run. That was why the real Alice had stayed fairly quiet and got herself to the aircraft that would be the only means of escape.

She wasn't disappointed either. There was barely a ten minute wait before Wesker was boarding the chopper, just like she'd expected.

_Coward_.

From where she was hiding, she could hear bullets hitting the outside of the aircraft, but they just bounced back off. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, because once Wesker settled at the controls, they were off the ground.

What she didn't expect was a remote device to destroy the facility. After he punched in the code, the Tokyo Hive destroyed itself with everyone inside. There wouldn't have been time for anyone to get out – not the Umbrella soldiers or her clones.

They'd gone in with the expectation of not coming back out. It was a necessary sacrifice that she couldn't let herself feel anything about. Yes, it was a sad loss, but there were much more important things at hand than her feelings.

Once they'd gotten past the turbulence of the nuclear device, she stepped out from her hiding place and silently approached the front of the helicopter. Things were going quite smoothly for her at this point; Wesker didn't even hear her until she let him.

A hand went to his shoulder, the other brought a gun up and pressed it to his temple. "Any last words?" she asked.

"Alice," he sneered. "I'm so glad to finally meet the real you." With impossible speed, he swung around and thrust a needle into her neck, injecting her with… something.

She stumbled back a few steps before dropping to the floor. Whatever he'd just put in her hurt like hell; she was gasping for air as she reached up to pull the needle out.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" the man asked as he stood from his seat.

"What… what did you do to me?" Alice questioned, still on the ground.

"The serum I injected you with is neutralizing the T-virus in your body. All those powers of yours… are gone."

She got up and swung a fist around, which he promptly caught and yanked her arm in a direction that an arm really shouldn't go. Before she could try and retaliate, he hit her and brought up his leg to kick her to the very back of the aircraft.

Wesker pulled out a pistol as he slowly approached her, taking aim at her head.

"Wait, please," Alice said, pushing herself up a bit.

"Last words?" he mused.

"Thank you."

"For killing you?"

"For making me human again." For the briefest of moments, her attention flickered to the front of the helicopter.

He turned to see what had caught her attention and completely forgot about killing her. Alarms were going off as they barreled straight for a hillside. He ran to the front, but it was far too late. The helicopter crashed, taking the two of them with it.

The last thing that registered in Alice's mind as she was projected forward was a pair of angry green eyes and the thought that not even death would offer her a reprieve from the wrath of Claire Redfield.


	8. Chapter 8

Somehow, she survived the crash. It could have been luck, it could have been that Wesker's serum hadn't worked as well as he'd expected. It also could have had something to do with the fact that she had made a promise and she planned to keep it.

After the crash, Alice had needed to take some time to heal up. She might have been able to walk away from it, but that didn't mean she got away without a scratch. Like any other person, she'd gotten pretty banged up.

Because of the injuries, she had been forced to spend some extra time in Japan. If nothing else she was able to gather up a few supplies, some extra clothes, and new weapons while on the mend.

Once she was back up to par she crossed the East Sea over into Russia. The air base at Arsen'yev was very obliging to her. She was able to get a plane, warmer clothes to help combat the cold weather, a couple of maps, and enough ammunition to last her a while.

One of the maps she'd picked up detailed where other air bases were. There were actually a few in line with her flight plan, which worked out incredibly well. She could make stops along the way to refuel and find any extra supplies that would come in handy.

When all was said and done, and she really thought about it, it had been 18 months since she'd last seen Claire. It felt more like a few lifetimes ago. Would the redhead even be happy to see her after so long? Maybe… after a healthy dose of yelling for such an absence.

Despite the verbal thrashing that she was certain would be waiting, Alice was heading for Alaska. She had to check and make sure the others had made it to safety. Arcadia had almost sounded too good to be true… hopefully it wasn't a lie.

To pass the time and keep herself occupied, she'd started making video logs to chronicle her journey from here on out. She had to wonder if there would be someone left to watch the videos.

Alice was honestly surprised to see the isolated state flourishing without human interference anymore. The rest of the North American continent had been reduced to a desert, but plant and wildlife were free from infection up here.

Why had it been spared? Probably because it was just too damn cold.

As she drew closer to the location offered for Arcadia, she flipped the video camera on. "May 3rd, day 133, closing in on the coordinates for Arcadia. I hope Claire and the others made it… I'll find out for myself soon enough."

Alice turned the camera off and directed her attention outside the cockpit. The snow and ice were beautiful; she hadn't thought such a thing still existed in the world. It gave a little spark of hope that she'd find what she was looking for up here.

The glaciers and forests soon gave way to a small open plain, but it wasn't just an empty space. It was something akin to a mechanical graveyard. There were no signs of life, neither living nor undead. Something was wrong down there.

She landed her plane at the end of the aircraft cemetery. Everything was so quiet… it was incredibly disconcerting.

Alice walked through the rusting grave markers, taking in each one as she passed. Could there really have been this many survivors? With so many planes and helicopters it could have amounted to hundreds of real, living people.

The path that cut through the imitation graveyard led out to an abandoned, empty beach. Well, no, it wasn't completely empty. Her steps quickened as she saw the Umbrella helicopter that she'd sent the others away in.

When she got to it, she found that it was empty as expected. However, the red notebook she'd given to K-Mart was tucked underneath one of the seats. She reached over and picked it up, flipping through a few pages before looking around again.

After a few moments, she walked over and sat down on a piece of driftwood that had washed up on shore. Alice pulled the camera out and turned it on, setting it on the driftwood across from her.

"Arcadia… there's nothing here but an empty beach and a bunch of abandoned aircraft," she said into the camera. "There _were_ people here, but… where did they go? I don't know what happened to Claire or the others; all I can do is keep searching. Day 133, signing off." She shifted and moved closer to grab the camera, but hesitated in shutting it off. "I don't know how much longer I can do this. What if there's no one left? No one to watch these tapes? Is this my punishment… for letting all of this happen?"

Was this what it felt like to be human again? It certainly wasn't the same as she'd felt before. After six years of being something more than human, she hardly remembered what it felt like anymore.

Something off to the side caught her attention: movement. It wasn't just an animal either. From the quick glimpse she got, it was a person. The camera was left to keep recording as she got up and ran after the fleeing stranger.

"Hey! Wait, please!" she called out. By the time she got back out to the plain, she could see no one. Surely she hadn't been seeing things. There had to have been someone there.

Alice pulled out her pistols, holding them at the ready. If the person disappeared so easily, they were likely up to something and it couldn't be anything good. She slowly worked her way through the abandoned pieces of machinery, skilled eyes taking in every detail.

A sound to her left grabbed her attention, both guns quickly trained on the ajar plane door. Something was inside. She slowly approached, caution in every step.

The door suddenly flung open and at least a dozen crows flew out from it. That offered the brunette quite the start; she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief – she'd expected some infected cannibal to lunge out at her.

There wasn't much time to breathe easy, someone struck her from behind. Another strike drove her to the ground. The person was suddenly on top of her, trying to drive a knife into her. It was a woman, but a tangled mess of hair prevented Alice from seeing a face.

That wasn't exactly her first priority though. First and foremost she needed to stop herself from being stabbed. They wrestled a few moments before Alice finally managed to throw the other woman off. The two were back on their feet quickly. The stranger would have lunged forward again had she not planted a firm kick and knocked the woman back into the plane. It was enough force to temporarily incapacitate her.

Alice took a cautious step forward, on high alert, and rolled the woman over. She found that the stranger wasn't a stranger at all. Hidden behind the tangled mess of what she now registered was red hair, was a very familiar face.

_Claire._

What had happened to her? She couldn't even imagine what would have put the redhead into that sort of shape – until she noticed the red spider-like contraption attached to Claire's chest.

"That's coming off," Alice decided. She jogged back to her plane and grabbed some rope and a few other supplies before returning. Tying the redhead up was the only real option she had at the moment, since the woman nearly was in a feral state.

Once Claire was safely tied to the landing gear of a plane, Alice worked on getting that spider off. It actually wasn't that easy and took a good bit of strength to remove. Taken from its host, the contraption recoiled inward, now dormant.

The brunette looked back to her unconscious friend; it was hard to say how long the other woman would be out. She got up and went to retrieve her camera and get a bit of firewood so they'd have some warmth during the approaching night.

It was much, much later that Claire finally woke. She wasn't happy at all to find herself bound. She yanked at the rope before her attention settled on the woman sitting across the fire from her.

"Sorry about that," Alice apologized. "What is this?" She held up the spider that she'd been examining. "Who did this to you?"

There was no answer.

"What happened to the others?" the brunette pressed.

Again, there was silence. Claire looked at the other woman with poorly contained suspicion and mistrust. She didn't know the other person.

At least, she didn't _remember_ the other woman. She honestly felt like she should know the brunette, it was unexplainable. Looking at the other woman, something welled up inside her – anger, relief, a full range of emotions ran through her.

"My name is Alice. Do you even know who I am?" she asked, sounding close to being defeated.

Still the redhead offered no answer. She was trying to figure out why she was reacting this way to a person she didn't even know. The only thing it could be compared to was waiting for someone that never came, and then all the turmoil that would boil up when they finally showed up.

Resigning herself to the silence, Alice nodded. "All right, you should try and get some more rest. We're going to leave in the morning."

She grabbed the extra blanket and walked over to lay it over Claire – who offered a disgruntled noise - before moving back to the other side of the fire. Though she laid down to sleep, it didn't come easily. So many nights she had simply closed her eyes and she could hear the redhead breathe, feel her lying next to her even if she wasn't really there.

Now Claire was across the fire from her, and there was more distance than ever before between them. The other woman had been up here for 18 months by herself and apparently without her memory. For that, Alice blamed herself. She'd been the one to send the survivors to chase a pipe dream.

* * *

**A/N: See, I told you Claire wouldn't be gone that long. I am taking a little bit of a liberty with Claire's reaction to seeing Alice again; the change is inspired by the song The Waiting One by All That Remains. They explain it so much better than I do.**

**Oh, and one last thing. I will likely exploit the ambiguous nature of Wesker's serum for Alice and whether or not it completely worked. I am a firm believer that it didn't totally get rid of Alice's powers and have more than one piece of evidence to back myself up. It might not be anything major, but I just wanted to give you all a head's up.**

**As always... love it, hate it - let me know.**


	9. Chapter 9

For two days, everything between them had been silence. Alice tried to strike up conversation a few times, but to no avail. She'd resigned herself to the deafening silence, only speaking when she made her video logs.

After finding Claire, she had decided not to return to the Nevada Hive. She could hide underground, but the outcome for the world would be the same. The cure would only take the violence from the infected, not bring them back from what they were. Her time could be spent more productively helping any survivors that might have been left.

"Day 135, working our way down the west coast. Still no signs of life, no broadcasts for help. We're heading for Los Angeles now, but I only expect to find the undead. Such a large number of people, the infection would have spread quickly," she said into the camera. "My passenger is still as talkative as ever."

The redhead had yet to say a single word. She was sitting in the second seat of the small plane, hands still bound. Alice had managed to get her cleaned up and in fresh clothes – that in itself had proven to be quite the fight.

The mistrust in Claire's eyes hurt far more than any physical wound could have hoped to. That wasn't the only thing Alice could read in those stormy, suspicious green eyes. There was something else… betrayal, perhaps? If not, it was something very close.

It was about an hour after she turned off the camera that the first sign of life came from the woman behind her. "So… your name is Alice, right?" Claire asked.

"She speaks," the brunette observed dryly.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened back there. I just… I don't remember anything, not even my own name."

"Your name is Claire. Claire Redfield," Alice told her with a sort of determination that could have willed the other woman to remember if it were possible.

"Claire," she tested the name out for herself. It didn't necessarily feel _wrong_.

"Sound familiar?"

There was a pause before Claire answered. "Not at all."

"You'll get used to it," Alice replied.

Again there was a bit of silence, the two were quite used to it by now. "So, perhaps you could cut me loose?" Claire questioned, holding up her bound hands.

The brunette shook her head, "No. I think we should get to know each other a little better first." There was a rare smirk gracing her features as she spoke.

Now it was Claire's turn to shake her head. She would have offered up a smart response, but decided against it. She had the feeling that whatever she said, the other woman would have had something to come back at her with.

"The City of Angels," Alice commented, looking down to the city. She flipped the camera back on.

"Everything's burning," Claire observed.

"No signs of life, not even the undead," the brunette said. "Some must have burned with the city… but what happened to the rest?"

"Oh my God, Alice, look over there."

Alice looked out the window and was surprised by what she saw. There was a very large army of undead surrounding a prison and on its roof was a message written in white paint: HELP US.

There were survivors.

She turned the plane and lowered their altitude to get a better look. Upon closer inspection, she could see a few men on the rooftop, waving to get their attention. There really were survivors.

But how to get to them? The roof could offer just enough room…

"Better hold on, this is going to get a little bumpy." She turned the plane to circle around, decreasing their speed.

Claire held up her hands once more. "Cut me loose."

After a moment of contemplation, Alice reached down and pulled out a knife before handing it back to Claire. "Just don't do anything crazy."

"Nothing as crazy as what you're planning," the redhead replied, now grinning herself.

Alice got the plane turned around, bringing down their altitude and speed again. This was going to be too close for comfort, but there wasn't much of a choice in the matter.

The men on the rooftop seemed to have understood her intent. They cleared a path and one even looked to be getting a line ready to snag the landing gear.

Their slowed speed and lowered elevation nearly made the plane's engine stall. In fact, they were about to go down. They dipped dangerously low and Alice yanked back on the yoke. Almost too late, the plane reared back. The propeller and landing gear caught on the roof's barrier, but they managed to touch down.

They were still going too fast as they barreled across the top of the building. The line caught their landing gear, but the plane ripped its connections from the walls. It had slowed them down, but not quite enough.

They hit the second barrier and slowly started tipping. The women's eyes widened. If they managed to survive hitting the street below, there would be no way for them to escape the thousands of undead.

Just when they thought it was over, there was a loud bang and they stopped tipping. Then, slowly but surely, they were pulled back onto the roof. Once they were secure, Alice unstrapped herself and got out of the two-seater plane.

"Luther West," one man introduced himself, offering his hand to help her. As she took the offered hand and jumped down, he spoke again. "That was some nice flying."

"I think the technical term is crashing," she pointed out. "I'm Alice, and that's Claire." She looked back to see the other woman get out of the plane. Luther offered his help to her as well, but she jumped down on her own and walked away from them. Just as stubborn and independent as Alice remembered.

"Did Arcadia send you?" That question brought the brunette back to reality.

"What did you just say?" Alice questioned.

For just a little while, she lost track of Claire. The survivors that had holed up in the prison informed her that Arcadia wasn't a fixed place – it was a ship, and it was just off shore.

That would explain why she hadn't found anything in Alaska. The ship must have been working its way down the coast, looking for survivors. The only problem was that from their vantage, there were no signs of life. All transmissions had cut off from the ship, maybe something bad happened.

As night fell, the prison lit up. Between torches and flares, they could see any threats coming in plenty of time. It was a bit of comfort, considering the mass of infected down below.

Before heading inside, Alice went to check on her redheaded friend. "You should think about getting some rest. At some point, we're going to have to get out of here."

The other woman didn't respond right away. She seemed distant, but the sound of the other brunette's voice brought her back. "I remember landing on the beach," she said.

"You do? What happened?"

"All I know is that I landed the helicopter… they were coming to get us in boats… that's all."

"It will come back, don't worry," Alice assured her, setting a hand on the railing next to them.

"I've been trying to figure it out, trying to remember what happened after that… but there's just nothing." Claire reached over to place her hand on the railing, inadvertently putting her hand over Alice's.

Both of them felt a jolt of electricity burst forth from where their hands met. They looked down to their hands, before green eyes slowly lifted to meet blue. Neither one seemed to be able to say anything.

It was Alice that moved first. She slowly pulled her hand out from under Claire's and broke their gaze. No matter how much she wanted the contact, Claire didn't remember anything yet and she couldn't take advantage of that.

Claire couldn't explain what was going on in her head. While she didn't know this other woman, it felt like they'd been around each other for ages. They'd hardly spoken, but that didn't matter. She took a step forward when the brunette turned to walk away. "Alice…" her voice had gotten much softer.

Alice stopped when she heard her name, looking back to the redhead and offered her a weak smile. "We should get some rest," she said with a nod. After that, she turned again and headed inside the prison.

The survivors living in the prison made themselves a home in cell block B. There was no shortage of beds, each cell had a cot inside and they could spread out as much as they wanted. It was a nice break from the norm, being around other people but also having space too.

Alice ate with a couple of them and talked about finding a way back out of the prison. There was only one person that seemed to know a way out, but he was locked up in a Hannibal Lecter style cell. That didn't really offer much in the way of trust for the man. He could very well turn out to be their only hope though.

After the others had begun to retire for the night, she stayed up. Her weapons needed to be cleaned and reloaded – just one mistake could cost a life. She started with the shotguns, pouring out a bag of quarters to load into shells. The quarters were very nice to fall back on, since you could never be sure when you'd find your next store of ammunition. The range and total damage that a shell filled with quarters could do was fairly impressive too.

Her movements were methodical, well practiced as she separated the coins into small stacks. Alice seemed right at home, making her deadly weapons even more deadly.

Claire had come inside and watched the brunette from across the main hall. Alice's meticulous work forced an atmosphere of calm on the area. It had a soothing effect. After a few moments, she pushed herself off the wall and headed over to sit down at the table with Alice. "What are you doing?" she inquired.

"Regular shotgun shells aren't that easy to come by anymore… I improvise," Alice answered.

"That's… kind of intense." The redhead reached over to snatch one of the quarters, turning it over in her hand.

Alice quirked a brow, but didn't complain. "It's an intense world we live in now. This just helps even the odds a little bit."

"You think we can get out of here?" Claire wasn't looking at the other woman. Instead, her attention had focused on rolling the coin over in her hands.

"There's always a way out, it just won't be simple. We might have to fight through the infected."

"Fight through them? There's got to be thousands out there."

"Like I said, it probably won't be simple. You should get some rest; we won't be staying here much longer."

Claire hesitated a moment before nodding. She seemed to have more to say, but it didn't come out. Eventually she got up without another word and left the table.

Alice didn't take much longer to finish with her weapons. She needed to follow her own advice. If they were going to get out of the prison, they all needed to rest.

Once her weapons were safely tucked away again – all having been cleaned and reloaded – she went to claim a cell for herself. She climbed up a few flights of stairs, but the light from the numerous torches below still reached up to the cell. They provided a warm glow and enough light to be able to fight if it was necessary. Though a prison was designed to keep people in, it seemed to prove quite useful at keeping the infected out.

Inside, she slowly pulled off her shoulder holsters, the belt around her waist, and the holsters strapped around her thighs. A girl could never be too prepared these days. Her take on being prepared was having plenty of guns and ammunition.

A pistol went underneath the pillow and one of the knives she carried went under the side of the mattress – it was just far enough to stay secure, but not too far so as to make it difficult to regain. This was a force of habit. Whenever she slept, her weapons were never out of reach, if she even took them off at all.

The brunette spent some time sitting and thinking in the cell. Her plane only seated two; she couldn't get all of these people out on it. Besides, it was a miracle they'd landed in the first place, taking off was something completely different.

Eventually she adjusted on the bed and lay down. Sleep was always hard to come by. Survival instinct said sleep was bad. When you were asleep, you were vulnerable. Even in a sturdy, relatively safe place like this, relaxing and trying to rest weren't that simple.

She had just closed her eyes when movement caught her attention. The glow from the torches was partially blocked out as someone came into the cell with her. When she opened her eyes, she found the figure was all too familiar, even if cast in shadow.

The person stepped closer to the cot. "Can I…?" It was Claire's voice.

"Yeah," Alice answered. She scooted back closer to the wall, making enough room for the redhead.

Once there was space, Claire moved onto the cot as well. She moved so that her back was against Alice's stomach and the other's arms were around her. Alice was a bit surprised by the close contact, even more when Claire had actually taken her arms and wrapped them around her.

"God, I missed this," the redhead sighed, easing down into Alice's safe embrace.

"You remember?" Alice inquired tentatively.

There were a few moments of silence before Claire spoke. "It was in the desert. I remember being sad, hurt, angry. I was beating the shit out of a Hummer." She brought up her hand and took Alice's as well, linking their fingers together. "And then I was pulled away from it, into your arms… it was the safest I'd ever felt."

"You're safe with me, Claire," the brunette assured her.

"I know," Claire replied with a nod. She hunkered down as far as she could in the other woman's arms.

No more words were exchanged that night as the two got the best sleep that either of them had in the past several months.

* * *

**A/N: The longest chapter so far... I hope no one was disappointed with Claire's return to full time status this chapter.**

**Unfortunately, Chapter 10 may not come as quickly as the rest have. I'm a tiny bit stuck about halfway through it. But never fear, my dear kiddies. You can trust that I am hard at work trying to get it done and am eagerly working on the rest of the story.**

**I'm sure you know the drill by now, but I apparently feel the need to repeat myself time and time again: love it, hate it? Let me know.**


	10. Chapter 10

When Claire woke, she found herself in an empty bed. "Figures," she grumbled, sitting up and threading her fingers through her hair.

She was fairly certain she'd fallen asleep in bed with a certain dark haired woman. It was one of the few things she could actually remember. She hadn't imagined that warmth and safety she felt the night before.

The two must have known each other for at least a while, otherwise she wouldn't have reacted the way she did. She felt like she could trust the other woman – there was something else too, something she didn't understand. It seemed like she'd been waiting for someone in Alaska and Alice had been that someone – but the wait felt like it had been longer than it should have.

Just from what had been observed lately, Alice wasn't great with people. She seemed almost skittish, always alert. Obviously she was willing to take risks to save others. It seemed to be her job, protecting others and likely killing the undead.

Considering her temperament and slight unease around other people, Claire had to assume that Alice had been doing this for a while. Maybe that was how they had met. She might not remember things long term yet, but she was confident that she could hold her own against the undead. Perhaps not the large army just outside the fortified walls though.

Still, it was a disappointment to wake up alone. She had wanted to talk, see if Alice could tell her anything else. Apparently there had been others, but now they didn't know where the others were. If she could find out more, maybe things would come back to her.

Eventually she got up and headed down to the main floor of the cell block. Crystal, the only woman that was holed up with the other survivors, informed her that Luther had taken Alice to the showers. Running water was a very rare luxury, but the prison was so big it still had stores of water.

With some directions, Claire left the eating area and headed for the showers. Alice wasn't going to get away that easily. She found Luther hanging out in the hall just outside the showers.

"You heard about our luxurious running water?" he asked with a grin.

"Yeah… you can head back with the others. I'll keep an eye on her," Claire said.

The man hesitated a moment, glancing back to the doors – apparently he'd been hoping to sneak a peek at Alice. Clearing her throat with purpose made him nod and head back down the hall.

Claire looked over to the doors, staring at them for a moment before walking over and pushing them open. She could hear the running water. There was a short hall, the middle of which opened up into a much larger area. There were sinks on a short wall and beyond were the showers.

The first thing that caught her eye was an older man trying his hand at being a peeping tom. What was with these guys? She walked over and slapped a hand on his back, grabbing a fistful of his shirt. "Beat it," she said lowly, swinging him around and shoving him back towards the doors. He was quick to scamper off.

The commotion caught Alice's attention. "Luther?" she questioned.

Claire walked out from behind the wall. "Not quite," she answered, stepping around the line of sinks and walking toward Alice and the running shower. "And I know you aren't disappointed."

"No," Alice admitted after a moment. "I'm not."

"I might not remember everything yet… but I've seen the way you look at me, and it's not the same way you look at everyone else," Claire said. Why did it feel like she'd said that before?

"Claire-"

"- No, you already made me wake up to an empty bed, don't you try to push me away now." Claire stepped closer to Alice, almost expecting her to step away to keep some distance between them. She didn't though. "I want to know what happened between us, what we were."

"It's not quite that simple," Alice shook her head.

"Maybe not the circumstances – they never are," the redhead replied. "You can't imagine what it's like not to remember why I feel the way I do when you're around."

_It's probably as hard as being less than a breath's distance away and remembering everything_, Alice thought. "I just don't want to push anything before you remember. I don't want to hurt you."

"Last night you said that I'm safe with you," Claire pointed out. She moved that much closer to the other woman, attention flickering down to her lips.

"Claire-" once more Alice was cut off before she could say too much. A finger pressed to her lips, effectively silencing her.

"Stop it," Claire demanded softly. Her finger slid across Alice's lips before she leaned in to kiss the other woman. The sensation was incredibly, pleasantly familiar. Though she thought there may be some resistance from Alice, there was none.

The two melted into the kiss. For just a few moments, the rest of the world went away. There was no danger, no infection, it was just them. The redhead's eyes fluttered closed as she felt Alice turn her a bit and press her back against the shower. The passion behind their kiss was dizzying and felt so right.

She sensed movement behind Alice, off to their left, and opened her eyes. She quickly broke off the kiss. "Alice," she gasped, voice slightly panicked.

The brunette grabbed a revolver in the process of turning, firing a single shot at the infected man that had somehow gotten in. He wasn't like the others though. His mouth had opened up into some sort of tentacle appendages that looked, well… pretty unusual even for the kind of world they lived in now.

Alice didn't get much time to think about the new form of infected as two more came from the hall. She planted bullets in them as well, visually sweeping the area to make sure she'd missed nothing. "It's okay," she then told Claire.

"What was wrong with their mouths?" the redhead asked.

"I don't know… I haven't seen anything like that before," Alice answered.

The door to the showers burst open and Luther came through, gun at the ready. "You two all right? We heard shots fired," he said, then noticed the three bodies littering the floor. "I guess you are all right."

"We need to figure out how they got in here," Alice told him, slipping right back into warrior mode despite the intimate moment just seconds before. "They came from behind the sinks."

Luther went over and checked the area, shaking his head when he moved the towel rack. "Since when do they know to make a fucking tunnel?" he questioned.

The two women walked over to where he was crouched down by a tunnel that came right into the showering area. "We have to get out of here," the brunette said after a moment. "And we have to do it as soon as possible. There is a whole army of undead out there that could use this to get in."

"Shit," Luther swore with another shake of his head. "And I thought we were safe in here. How the hell are we supposed to get out?"

"I think it's time we talked to the one guy you all have locked up in here. If he's got a way out, I want to hear it," Alice said, looking over to the man.

Luther didn't like the idea, but they didn't have much of a choice. He took the two women to gather up the other survivors before heading downstairs. As far as he was concerned, they could get information out of the man then kill him before he had the chance to do the same to them.

They held a vote before actually letting the man go. Though he was likely their only hope for getting out, they still needed to be in agreement about letting him out. Bennett was the only one that offered much protest and everyone mostly ignored his opinion.

After they were all in agreement, Alice moved forward and unlocked the cell door. "I wondered how long it would take," Chris commented, walking out once the door had been opened. He stepped down the couple of stairs between the floor and the cell, looking at the others that had kept him locked up. When Alice stepped aside, his attention settled on the redheaded woman he hadn't noticed before. "Claire?"

She glanced around before looking at him suspiciously. "What did you say?" she questioned.

He closed the distance between them, reaching out to touch her cheek. "Claire, it's me, Chris... I'm your brother," he said.

Claire didn't allow him much contact. In a flash she had reached up and grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm painfully around his back. "I don't know you," she told him lowly.

There was suddenly a hand over hers and Alice was standing next to her. "She doesn't remember anything right now," she explained to Chris then turned her attention to the other woman. "If he is your brother, you'll remember."

A moment later, Claire released the man claiming to be her brother. She stayed close to the almost over-protective Alice though. The brunette was the one thing that seemed right in this world.

Chris wasn't very appreciative of the not so welcome greeting, but shook it off. "If you want to get out of here, then we should get moving," he said before leading the others back upstairs and outside.

Being on the ground level with only a wall and questionably sturdy gate separating them from the undead was a little unsettling. They moved quickly through the yard, over to a large door. "There's an armored military vehicle in there. It will hold all of us and we can drive right the undead," Chris told them.

"We'll need to find a boat or something to get across the water," Luther pointed out.

"That means we'll need more firepower than we have now," Alice said with a nod.

"There's a room down in the sub basement my team used as an armory when we set up here. That'll give us all the firepower we need… Most everything should still be there; by the end there were more guns than people to use them," Chris replied.

"All right, you're coming with me then," Alice told him with a nod. "Work on getting that door open and the vehicle ready to go," she added to the others. Without missing a beat, she turned to head back inside with the man in tow.

Angel and Bennett went to work getting the door open while Claire and Luther's attentions turned toward the gate. There was something pounding on it, trying to get through. As they walked over, they saw that it was a giant with the scariest looking axe either of them had ever seen – and he was trying to break down the gate.

"Luther… shoot that son of a bitch," Claire told him.

The man didn't have to be told twice. He pulled out the pistol that he always carried and fired half a dozen shots at the massive undead figure. Even shots straight through the head didn't stop him, didn't even faze him.

The two scrambled to try and make the gate sturdier. They even pushed an abandoned police vehicle over – if nothing else, it would keep the gate from completely falling. If the infected had to climb over it, it would slow them down a bit.

The redhead looked up as bolts began to break free from the wall. "We have to get out of here," she said, grabbing Luther's arm and tugging him along. They needed to get back inside and find another way out.

Alice and Chris were having a little better luck – sort of. They'd had to swim down to the room used as an armory. Crystal had come along with them, but once they'd surfaced again, one of the infected grabbed and dragged her back into the water. These new ones with the creepy mouths were turning out to be quite the inconvenience. They were faster and apparently smarter than the others.

Briefly, the brunette wondered if they were a new creation of Umbrella's – with more time to think about it, she'd probably determine that they were. Currently, she didn't have that kind of time on her hands. Instead, she and Chris had to book it to the armory because the first undead had brought along several friends.

They locked themselves inside the dark room - what likely amounted to dozens of undead pounding at the door to try and get in. Alice lit a flare and revealed the armory was still quite full of weapons – just what they needed.

She and Chris quickly packed up as much as they could, making sure they'd still be able to maneuver easily and effectively even with the new weaponry. They couldn't get back out the way they'd come, so they had to use the ventilation tunnels to get back topside.

The two climbed through the tunnels up as far as the roof. They figured out that at some point between the time that they'd left the others and now, the infected had broken through the gate and were swarming the place. Now they were going to have to find a different way out of the prison and at least the roof would offer a few minutes to think before the undead reached them.

The sound of the plane's engine coming to life made them quicken their steps as they made it out of the tunnel. Chris burst out of the door to the roof first, but quickly had to take cover again as Bennett opened fire. The man was in the plane and had no intention of helping anyone but himself, not even the young man that had been his intern.

Once the plane got rolling, Chris and Alice were able to step outside safely; Luther kicked open the door that had been locked to keep him and Claire at bay while Bennett made his escape. "There he goes," Luther shook his head. "Bastard."

"We can't stay here for long, we're going to have to find another way out now," Alice said. She had no more than finished speaking when one of the doors burst open and the undead poured out onto the top of the building with them.

"Alice!" Claire called, grabbing an H&K MP5K from the bag and tossing it to the other woman.

Alice turned at the sound of her name and caught the submachine gun, immediately going to work on the infected that were coming out. She had easily slid back into warrior mode, now ultra aware of everything going on around her. If the serum had taken her powers, then why… No, she didn't have time to contemplate that. "Get to the elevator!" she ordered the others.

They weren't going to last very long at this rate, they'd run out of bullets long before they ran out of undead to shoot. Alice offered the others cover as they worked to the elevator. She grabbed one of the bags, pulling an explosive charge out of it.

"This thing doesn't have power!" she heard Kim Yong say.

"We aren't going to need power," came Chris' reply. He reached over and pulled Claire into the elevator as Alice threw the charge on top of it.

Alice was quick to back off after that, but the explosion still propelled her forward. She rapidly regained herself though, running over to grab some of the loose lines laying on the rooftop. With the bag in one hand, she shot the undead that were getting closest, trying to buy some time. The more that were up there with her, the more she could take out at once.

A few more seconds ticked by before she decided she couldn't wait any longer. She armed the remaining charges and secured the lines around herself before tossing the bag into the crowd of infected that were charging toward her. She used what ammunition was left in the submachine gun and discarded it before launching herself off of the top of the building.

The brunette fell far enough just in time to not get caught by the blast, but it did offer enough force to make her swing a little faster than she'd originally intended. That didn't concern her though.

At the bottom of the swing, she loosed herself from the lines and pulled out her revolvers as she flipped before hitting the ground. There were just as many undead on the ground, but with some fancy maneuvering and wise use of her rounds, she could make it through.

Hands reached out, brushing against her in failed attempts to latch on. She ducked and fired, careful not to get close enough for anything to grab her. Anyone else in such a situation wouldn't have been nearly as lucky.

"Over here!" Her attention snapped over to a door leading back inside. Luther was there waiting for her, providing her some poor, but much needed cover fire.

Alice tossed the revolvers behind herself in the process of pulling out her 12-gauges. A single shot bolstered by the coins she collected was enough to clear her way to the door, sliding safely under it just as Luther brought it slamming to the ground.

Now they only had one way out.

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**A/N: Apparently I keep trying to outdo myself because these chapters keep getting longer and longer. Oh well, it just means more for my dear readers to enjoy. **

**Love it, hate it? Let me know.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Before everyone gets up in arms... yes, I do refer to the Axeman as such. Yes, I have played the fifth game and do know the exact same character is in it, but referred to as the Executioner Majini. I prefer calling him the Axeman, because it's so much cooler. Just thought we'd clear that up now.**

**As always... love it, hate it? Let me know. Reviews make the world go round.**

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The group of five was standing at the entrance to the tunnel. It was the only way they were going to get out now. The plan wasn't ideal, but it was all they could do at the moment.

"I'll take point," Chris volunteered, pulling out a pistol. After a moment, he dropped down into the tunnel.

Luther stepped forward after the other man had moved down into the tunnel. "Ladies," he said then dropped down into the tunnel after Chris.

Claire turned to the young man trembling behind herself and Alice. "Come on, you're next," she told him.

"I-I can't go down there," Kim Yong said with a shake of his head. "No way."

"You can," the redhead assured him.

Alice, getting impatient, tried to hurry things along. "Let's go."

The decision wasn't left up to them. Before anyone else could get down into the tunnel, a large axe came down and sliced Kim Yong in half. Somehow, the Axeman from outside had gotten in with them.

Alice's reaction wasn't delayed in the least. She leapt up, planting a foot firmly in the monstrosity's face. It didn't exactly have the effect she was going for though. It didn't even bother him.

If anything, she had irritated him – as soon as she landed back on the ground she had to dodge the axe coming down toward her. Her evasion was successful as the axe merely took out a large chunk of the sinks. She backed off, pulling out both of her 12-gauges, but before she could do anything useful with them the broad side of the axe hit her into the wall hard enough to leave quite the dent.

Before the Axeman could move in and finish off the now unconscious brunette, Claire pulled out her Beretta and emptied what was left of the clip into him. It was certainly effective in getting the giant's attention.

She was forced to duck and run as the axe came around at her. She'd barely taken a step forward when she heard the distinct 'thud' of one of the showers being chopped in half. A quick glance was cast over her shoulder just in time to see that she needed to duck again, once more barely missing being caught.

The Axeman took out a few more showers as Claire successfully kept herself just out of reach. With all of the broken pipes, water was gushing everywhere. She had to be a bit more careful with her footing, even though there wasn't much time for it.

As she reached the wall she propelled herself upward, taking a couple of steps up until she could plant her foot on the window's ledge and flip herself backwards. She flipped right over the Axeman's head and landed a few feet behind him.

The maneuver bought her minimal time, but it was better than nothing. She stood upright once more as he turned to face her. Her attention briefly flickered to the ground – one of Alice's sawed off shotguns was laying there. If she timed things just right, she could get to it.

The Axeman started forward again and Claire did the same. Just before they would have collided, Claire slid down onto the wet floor, catching up the shotgun and planting a full round straight through the giant's chest. The Axeman took a staggering step forward before dropping to the ground.

Claire laid there on the ground for a moment, letting out a shaky breath. Slowly, she pulled herself up and turned to make sure the Axeman was down and stayed that way. Though he was down momentarily, he didn't stay that way unfortunately. After a few beats, he began getting up.

Alice was suddenly beside Claire, pulling her down to duck away from the axe that was flying at them. As the weapon embedded itself in the wall, it practically shook the entire room.

With the Axeman now unarmed, the brunette stood and pulled out her remaining 12-gauge, blowing apart the giant's head. For just a few moments, the sound of falling water was joined by the ringing of quarters hitting the floor as the Axeman's body dropped back down.

Claire turned to look up at the axe first, it had barely missed them. She cast a relieved grin over to Alice as the brunette turned to glance up at the monstrous weapon as well. That had been an incredibly close call. "I think I could go without doing that again," the redhead commented.

Alice breathed a sigh of relief, nodding in agreement. "Let's get going before anymore nasty surprises show up," she said, motioning Claire back toward the tunnel.

The redhead nodded and turned toward where the tunnel lay. She stopped by the entrance, glancing over to the brunette. "You or me first?" she asked.

"You go ahead," Alice answered with a nod.

Claire watched her for a moment before smirking. "Yeah… you just want to be the one with a view," she teased.

"I said no such thing," Alice shook her head, but was grinning as well.

"You didn't have to say it." Claire dropped down into the tunnel after that, hoping that the bracing delay hadn't let Luther and Chris get too far ahead of them.

The brunette shook her head once more before following Claire down into the tunnel. It wasn't very wide – most of it only afforded enough room to barely squeeze through. It was a way out of the prison though and that was what mattered.

It felt like they'd been crawling for hours when a startled gasp from the redhead had Alice reaching for one of her guns. They had run into Luther again – he was quietly waiting off to the side. "Those things are close," he whispered. "Stay quiet. The tunnel drops into the draining system a couple yards ahead. Go."

Claire nodded and continued down the tunnel. Just as Luther had said, it dropped down into the draining system. Chris was waiting for them and helped ease her drop. "Thanks," she told him a bit roughly, getting a curt nod in response.

Alice didn't need help as she jumped down from the tunnel. She turned to make sure Luther was following. A few seconds ticked past before he appeared at the end of the tunnel. "Come on, we need to keep moving," she told him.

He nodded and was about to jump down when something literally tackled him out of sight. Another one passed across the opening, heading in the same direction as the first. A few shots rang out, but that was it.

"Luther!" Alice called up.

Claire reached over and set a hand on the brunette's forearm. "We can't help him now," she said. "We have to keep going before those things catch up to us."

Alice pulled her arm away from the redhead, turning and heading down the channel. Just as they thought, it opened up and dumped out into the ocean. From where they stood, they could see the Arcadia.

"Look, down there," Chris said, motioning down toward their right. "We could use that boat to get out to the Arcadia."

The brunette nodded and found them a way down to the shore. It wasn't easy – but then again, what _was_ easy nowadays? After several minutes of climbing, they managed to get down to the boat. One good thing was the fact that the undead had yet to catch up with them.

Chris got into the boat first, checking it out to make sure it would work. "Looks like we're good," he said as the two women climbed in as well. "Let's go check out that ship."

After a quick trip over the water, the three found a way onto the ship. "I guess Bennett made it," Claire observed, seeing the plane she and Alice traveled in crashed onboard the ship.

"But where did he go?" Alice inquired.

"Where did anyone go?" Chris asked in return. "Maybe we'll find something up on the bridge." He led the two women up to the bridge of the ship. Everything inside was still in perfect working order. "It's like everyone just up and left."

"But why? And where did they go?" Claire asked.

"Look… it says there are still over two thousand passengers aboard. But all of the lifeboats have been launched," Chris said, looking over one of the computers.

"Maybe they're below deck," Alice commented. "If there are that many survivors onboard… we need to find them."


	12. Chapter 12

"This place is huge," Claire said, her voice echoing and bouncing off the storage containers below the main deck. She, Chris, and Alice had found their way to the second level of the ship. So far, it was nothing but storage containers and empty space.

"There are a couple of levels under us, too," Chris pointed out.

As they came upon a large set of doors, the two siblings shined their flashlights at it, revealing the Umbrella insignia. "Umbrella is running the Arcadia?" Alice asked aloud, but mostly to herself. Honestly, it wasn't that surprising.

Seeing the Umbrella logo triggered something in Claire's mind. Everything came crashing back to her in an unsteadying flash. But she didn't have time to be hindered. "It's a trap," she stated, pulling out her gun.

As the doors opened, Chris followed suit and pulled out his own weapon. The three stepped forward into a large open area – the lights flickering on after a few moments. The room was pure white with strange designs on the floor.

"What is this?" Chris asked. "Where is everyone?" He watched as Alice knelt down to take a closer look at the floor.

"I think they're beneath our feet," the brunette answered.

Claire looked around, spotting a pedestal and some kind of control. She picked it up, scrolling through… people. Lots of people. "Look, it's K-Mart," she said, finding the teen's name and picture.

"Bring her up," Alice said, standing upright. "Bring them all up."

Claire hit the button to release then blonde teen and then the rest of the captives. She and Alice went over to get K-Mart once the holding mechanism had come up. Alice opened it up and pulled the various lines off to the teenager. Claire caught the girl as she started to fall.

The sudden change startled K-Mart and she tried to get away from the two older women. "K-Mart, it's alright," Alice assured her. "We're friends."

"You go ahead," Claire told the brunette. "I'll get this device off of her and help the others."

Alice nodded and stood once more, heading through the other holding mechanisms. There were so many people, living people. This wasn't all of them. There must have been more rooms like this one.

Her attention moved to a broken, bloody container. That certainly couldn't be good. She walked over to it, carefully resting a hand on it. A quick, horrific scene raced through her mind before she retrieved her hand.

She looked over to another set of doors. There was something, _someone_ beyond. With new determination, she headed through them and found herself in an aircraft bay. These were the same as the helicopter that she and Wesker had crashed in.

There was also a purging device, like the one at the Tokyo facility. If her instincts were right, and she was pretty sure they were, that device would be much more useful elsewhere. Before continuing through the bay, she carefully pulled it from its place on the wall and hid it in one of the helicopters.

History liked to repeat itself, after all.

Once she was satisfied it was successfully placed, she finished her way through the bay. A set of doors opened up to reveal another large, white room. This one held dried out bodies on tables and a couple of screens hanging from the ceiling. As she moved further inside, the two screens began to lift, one at a time, to reveal she wasn't alone.

"Why am I not surprised?" Alice inquired, her annoyance evident.

"Alice," Wesker greeted with that smug grin of his. "So good to see you again."

"Do I even need to ask how?" she questioned him. "Or what you're doing here?"

"The T-virus brought me back, but now it fights me for control," the man explained, his neck popping for a bit of emphasis. "I thought by ingesting more DNA, I could balance things out."

That explained the bodies in the room. "No wonder your crew jumped ship. Their boss is a cannibal," Alice commented. Her attention moved to two dogs that came out – and she pulled out her shotguns.

"Ah-ah. Sit," Wesker commanded the canines – and they surprisingly obeyed. "Wouldn't want you hurting my pets… and as for my crew, well I have a new subject now."

"Put down the guns," a man ordered her from behind. It was Bennett.

More annoyed than before, Alice dropped the shotguns and carefully pushed them back toward the man. Briefly, she glanced over her shoulder at him. "You've looked better, Bennett," she informed him.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going to have fun playing with your face when you're dead," he sneered in return.

"So what do you want with me?" she asked, returning her attention to Wesker.

"I always knew you'd be drawn back to your friends. Why else would I have left that pretty little redhead by herself in Alaska? You'd eventually go looking and find someone who didn't remember you or anything else." Wesker was getting incredibly close to having that smug grin beaten off of his face. "You'd never leave her behind and she'd be a very good tool to slow you down. Then, once you finally figured out the secret of Arcadia, I could kill two birds with one stone upon your arrival."

He paused a moment, chuckling as he watched Alice's irritation grow exponentially. "Now that you're here, I can ingest your DNA and finally balance myself and the T-Virus. You've always been the missing piece of the puzzle, the only one to ever successfully bond with the virus in such a way."

Alice finally reigned in her anger – geared not only at Wesker, but herself too. She should have known this was a trap. "Yeah? There's just one problem with your plan," she said, taking a few steps to the left. "I'm not on the menu." Without warning, she brought her leg up and kicked a tray of surgical instruments at Wesker.

He ducked to the side, but one of the knives still managed to catch his cheek. He reached up with a gloved hand and touched the cut. "I suppose I'll have to settle this myself," he said, standing up. His movements halted when he heard a couple of faint clicks behind himself. "Ah… Chris and Claire Redfield. Isn't this one big family reunion?"

"Told you I'd be bringing some friends," Alice pointed out.

Wesker smirked, reaching up for his sunglasses. "You should have brought more," he said, turning and throwing the glasses back at Chris. It provided enough of a distraction for him to close the distance between them and knock the other man over.

Alice wanted to assist the siblings, but she had a problem of her own. The dogs had gotten up and were much closer now. Like the infected from the prison, these weren't the typical undead dogs. As they snarled at her, they actually split in half, opening up into what could only be described as large mouths with plenty of teeth.

"Great," the brunette grumbled to herself. She went to try and grab one of the shotguns she'd been forced to discard. One of the dogs moved closer and stopped her. That was incredibly inconvenient.

It snarled for a moment before jumping at her. She quickly ducked and rolled, picking up the shotgun. Though she was on the ground now, she was ready when it came back, planting a slug into it.

The shot shattered the two screens and Alice had to scramble to her feet to avoid getting hit. The other dog was going to take advantage of this, lunging at the woman. She looked up to see a particularly large piece of the glass falling and kicked it at the attacking animal – the dog didn't stand a chance against it.

She knew Chris and Claire had been fighting Wesker while she was dealing with the dogs. She'd heard the gunshots and physical blows. Finally, she had a chance to help them.

Bennett had a different plan for her though. He'd gone back to the chair and grabbed one of the embedded knives – the one that had Wesker's blood on it. He charged at Alice, his aim to kill her with the knife.

She saw him coming and brought her arm up in defense. It wasn't the most ideal defense, but she'd rather have the knife go through her forearm than something more vital. A gasp left her as the knife went clear through her arm. There was not only the pain from the initial stabbing, but it felt like fire spread through her veins, initiating from that particular point.

The wave of heat dissipated as quickly as it had gripped her, but that diversion gave Bennett enough time to go after the other discarded shotgun. Luckily, K-Mart picked it up and slapped him across the face with it, effectively knocking him out for the moment.

Alice was quite relieved for the help, but she had more pressing matters to attend to. While she was distracted, Wesker had gotten Chris and Claire in two of the holding tanks. Now he was coming after her.

She pulled the knife from her arm with a pained groan. As Wesker got close enough, she drove the knife straight into his forehead. He stumbled back, but didn't fall. Instead, he reached up to grab hold of the knife and pulled it back out of his head. That smug smirk was back in place until he opened his mouth and tentacles began to emerge.

Alice wasn't waiting around for him to attack. She pulled her shotgun back out and shot him point blank through what had moments ago been a normal mouth. That made him fall back to the ground. Satisfied he was now stopped, she quickly moved around behind the chair and into the small chamber behind. She picked up the control and brought both Chris and Claire back topside.

The two, though a bit disoriented at first, seemed to be fine. Alice wrapped up the wound on her forearm as she walked back into the main room. She planned on heading back to the main deck, but the faint sound of movement caught her attention.

Wesker was getting up again… until Chris' booted foot pushed him back to the ground. "I don't think so," Chris said. He and Claire emptied what was left of their clips into the Umbrella chairman.

The three adults gathered K-Mart and left the large white room, making sure to lock the doors behind them. Bennett had gotten back up and was screaming at them through the intercom system, but a bullet did away with that.

They headed back to the first large room they'd found to help the newly awakened survivors. Many of them were still quite disoriented and had no idea what was going on.

Chris, Claire, and Alice were working on corralling the freed captives to get them up to the main deck of the ship when they heard the distinct sound of a helicopter being started.

"No way," Claire said as the three of them ran back toward the aircraft bay. Sure enough, one of the helicopters lifted off and flew away from the ship.

Alice glanced back toward where the purging device had been. "Come on, we have to get up to the deck," she told the other two.

They quickly made their way back above deck just in time to see the helicopter explode. The brunette's instincts had been right. Wesker was just the kind to cut and run as soon as he had the chance. This time it didn't work out so well for him.

After the light show had dissipated again, they headed back for the bridge. "I never imagined there would be this many of us," Claire commented, looking out over the deck at those milling about. "What do we do now?"

The answer was delayed, but after a moment, Alice reached over and picked up the radio's handset. "We keep to the promise," she said before flipping it on and recording a new broadcast. "This is the Arcadia. We can provide food, shelter… safety and security. There is no infection. If you are out there, we can help. There is hope."

Claire couldn't help the faint smile that pulled at her features. Hope, it was such a foreign concept now. Listening to Alice, however, made her believe in it once more.

They decided to move down to the deck and help get the survivors re-oriented. These were only a fraction of the people claimed to be on board, but they could thoroughly search the ship later – once this first batch was properly settled.

There was a slight problem with that particular plan. It seemed that Umbrella didn't appreciate what they'd done. A whole fleet of helicopters was coming into view.

"What's that?" Chris asked, brow furrowing into a frown.

"Trouble," Alice answered. "And a lot of it."

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**A/N: Oh noooooooo (yes, another Cartman impression). We ran out of Afterlife plot. This is where I must ask my dear kiddies not to kill me for stopping where I did. It was done for a good reason, I swear.**

**This chapter stopped at the end of Afterlife mostly because from here on out, my diseased little brain is taking over for the plotline. I will be taking some elements from the fifth game and projecting them into the story after this. So the ending also offers a warning to those who don't wish to have anything about the games or anything that could possibly, remotely happen in the next movie to stop reading right here. Even though I have no idea where Paul and Milla will take the rumored fifth movie, there's always the slim chance that things could overlap and I don't want to be murdered in my sleep for ruining something.**

**As always - love it, hate it? Let me know. You saw how fast I updated with the last round of reviews.**


	13. Chapter 13

**I know I put a warning at the end of the last chapter, but I wanted to make sure all my dear readers know that I'm taking the plot from here. For those have played or read about the fifth game, some elements will be familiar. There will also be some things I've come up with on my own.**

**Reviews make me a happy camper, so... love it, hate it? Let me know.**

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"Get everyone back below the deck!" Alice ordered. There were at least 35 of those helicopters and from what she'd seen in Wesker's chopper, each one could hold 8 people on each side. That meant 16 soldiers plus a pilot and co-pilot per aircraft.

They were seriously outnumbered.

Chris and K-Mart quickly turned to start directing people back below deck. There wouldn't be anywhere for them to go, but they could funnel the soldiers and give themselves a better chance.

"I'm not going anywhere without you," Claire informed the brunette.

"Claire, you have to," Alice told her. "I'll be fine. I need you to help get these people safely below deck. I'll be right behind you."

The redhead stared at her for a long moment, trying to detect whether or not the other woman was lying, before offering the faintest of nods. She soon joined Chris and K-Mart in driving the survivors back down below deck. The sudden urgency was threatening panic.

Alice returned her attention to the hovering aircraft. Why weren't they shooting? All she could figure was that they wanted to take her alive. Too bad for them.

Finally, one of the helicopters moved in close enough to start dropping soldiers. It seemed as though they wanted to keep her from reaching them before the soldiers got to the deck, because they'd gone to the far end of the ship. How many times had they underestimated her now?

Moving with the speed that she'd become accustomed to, she closed the gap between herself and the chopper before the first of the soldiers was even halfway down his line. When he reached the deck, he'd barely set his feet down before his neck was snapped and gun stolen.

That was what Alice really wanted: a gun. The stolen M4A1 Carbine would work perfectly. The other Umbrella soldiers that were coming down from the helicopter never had a chance to make it to the deck alive.

Now that they'd seen what the brunette could do, a handful of helicopters moved in. They spaced it out so there was no way that Alice would be able to get to all of them before the soldiers got to the deck.

Having 80 soldiers on deck with her was a little more tricky than killing some unsuspecting soldiers before they joined her.

"Shit," Alice swore, stooping to grab some extra clips from one of the soldiers she killed. She was going to need them.

The soldiers were pressing in on her, preparing for hand to hand combat. That wasn't exactly what she wanted though. As she turned to face them, she began firing. There were too many of them and only one of her, she needed to cut them down.

Alice's method was effective until she ran out of ammunition and had to reload. That gave those closest to her time to move in. She ducked away from the first fist swung at her, coming back up and hitting the man roughly under the chin with the butt of her gun. The next one that came got a firm kick to the gut, sending him back several feet. She ducked again, this time swinging around to plant her foot in another's face and in the same fluid motion came back up to hit a soldier with the end of her gun.

That gave her enough space to clip the cartridge back into the carbine and start firing again. While she was fighting though, more soldiers were dropping onto the ship. This situation was going from bad to worse.

Her initial plan had been to get the freed captives to safety, then join Chris and Claire below deck to funnel the soldiers. That wasn't really going to happen now. All she could do was keep fighting.

Suddenly, gunfire erupted on the other side of the sea of Umbrella soldiers. For just a moment, everyone's attention diverted to the area. Chris and Claire were back topside and had snagged a couple weapons, thus joining the fight.

Though Alice had wanted them to stay safe, not even she could get through all of these soldiers by herself. She took advantage of the split second diversion, grabbing the two closest soldiers and slamming their heads together. She took a step forward and kicked at another's knee, breaking it before bringing the end of her gun down on the back of his head. Though conserving ammunition took time and effort, with so many Umbrella agents swarming the deck it was almost necessary.

It felt like for each agent they downed, three more came down to take his place. The soldiers still weren't using lethal force for whatever reason. That actually gave the three a decent fighting chance.

Almost all of the helicopters emptied their soldiers out onto the ship, barely more than a dozen were left to hover overhead. One of them dropped a blonde haired woman who seemed to be the leader. Her attention turned toward the siblings who had come up to aid Alice. Though they were meant to be brought back alive, they were turning out to be quite the inconvenience.

While Claire was focused on fighting the soldiers, she carefully moved closer. The redhead swung around, sensing the new threat, but was forced to stop mid-turn as the new woman grabbed her gun. The blonde yanked the carbine from Claire's hands and was about to use it to hit her, but Chris barreled into the woman's side with his shoulder.

The hit sent her tumbling to the ground, losing grip of the gun. Chris was going to follow up with the body slam, but stopped short when he saw the woman's face. "Jill?" he asked.

"You know her?" Claire questioned, quirking a brow. Now wasn't the best time for a conversation, but that didn't really matter.

"We used to work together," Chris answered, looking down to the blonde that was glaring at him. "Jill… it's me, Chris."

"I know who you are," the woman assured him with a nod, swinging her leg around to knock him off his feet. Her efforts succeeded and with the momentary delay, she managed to get back to her feet, pulling out her MP-9s. "They want you two alive… but didn't say you couldn't be hurt."

Claire's eyes widened as the blonde brought both of the guns up and took aim at Chris. She stepped forward, bringing her elbow up at Jill's forearm to knock off her aim. She reached over with her free hand, grabbing the woman's other arm so she could duck and spin to get around the other's back. She had Jill in the same position she'd greeted Chris with.

"Claire, one of those devices is on her chest," Chris said as he got back up.

"Well get it off," Claire told him rather quickly.

He nodded and moved forward, reaching for the glowing red scarab device. When he got close enough, Jill leaned back and used Claire for support as she brought both legs up and kicked the man straight in the gut. Setting both feet back on the ground, she head butted Claire to force the redhead to let go, which she did.

Freed again, Jill brought the MP-9s back up, one pointed at each of the siblings. "This is the last time either of you is causing Umbrella trouble," she told them. A frown creased her features as she felt someone tap on her shoulder. After a moment she glanced over her shoulder to see who was bothering her.

"Hi, Jill," Alice greeted with a humorless grin.

"Project Alice… maybe you'll listen to reason. None of you has to get hurt," Jill told the brunette.

Alice didn't offer any warning, bringing her fist up and giving Jill quite the nasty right hook, knocking the other woman out. "Sorry about that," she apologized as the woman dropped to the ground. The brunette had worked her way through the crowd of soldiers when she noticed Jill Valentine among the Umbrella ranks. Even at a distance, she could see the scarab device.

There was still a fair amount of soldiers on deck, but with the three of them able to refocus their efforts – and the other helicopters flying off – they stood a much better chance. Jill was left in an unconscious heap while Alice, Claire, and Chris went back to work on the agents.

Some of the survivors that had been freed and thought they could lend a decent hand returned to the deck. With all the discarded weapons, they easily took up arms and were able to help finish off the Umbrella soldiers. K-Mart had even returned, hoping to help her friends.

With so many in the fight, the Umbrella agents were overpowered. They left quite a mess on the deck, which would have to eventually be cleaned up. The weapons would be stored away, in case they ran into any more similar problems.

"What are we going to do with her?" Claire asked, walking back over to where they'd left the unconscious Jill.

"We'll need to get that device off of her," Alice said, stepping up beside the redhead. "Probably detain her just to be on the safe side. I wonder how Umbrella got a hold of her…"

"You know her too?"

"We met in Raccoon City during the initial outbreak. We were part of a group – along with Carlos – that helped find a little girl in return for a way out of the city," Alice answered after a moment.

Chris walked over and knelt down next to Jill. "I'll take her up to the bridge. We can tie her to one of the chairs until she wakes up." He shifted and gathered the unconscious woman into his arms. "I'll see if there are any first aid supplies up there too," he added, nodding to Alice's arm.

In all the commotion, her wound had begun bleeding again. She hadn't even noticed it. Rather than acknowledging the wound, she changed the subject. "We need to get this deck cleaned up," she said.

"I can help," K-Mart spoke up from behind them. "I could get some of the others to help too, that way you don't have to worry about it."

Claire couldn't have been more proud of the teenager, ready to take on responsibility and even volunteering for it. "If you think you can handle it," she said with a nod.

"Yeah, no problem," the teen nodded. "Afterward, I could go looking for the galley and see what kind of supplies are left."

The redhead smiled at that. "That sounds like a great plan."

K-Mart went to work almost immediately, gathering up some helpers to get rid of all the bodies littering the deck. Out of all the Umbrella soldiers that had been in the helicopters, at least two-thirds of them were now laying on the deck. It was quite the undertaking, but she seemed to have everything under control.

"We should head up to the bridge," Claire told Alice after a few moments.

Alice couldn't be completely sure, but it seemed that Claire didn't want to be alone with her at the moment. She could have been reading too far into the situation though. She nodded and headed up to the bridge, finding that Chris had already tied the blonde to a chair. He was in the process of pulling off the scarab device.

"So what are these things?" he questioned as the device recoiled into itself after being detached from the host.

"Something Umbrella uses to control people it looks like," Alice told him, walking over to drop into a chair. After two intense fights – the second of which she'd taken out about a third of the soldiers by herself – she was pretty much drained. Blood loss would become a concern soon, too.

That reminded Chris about finding some kind of medical kit. He did some searching through cabinets and drawers before finally finding one. "Here we go, we'll get you stitched up and good as new," he told the brunette.

Claire walked over and sat down in a chair across from Alice as her brother went to tend the other woman. Besides a pretty good bruise on her temple from being head butted, she was all right. She had to cringe though, watching as the black gauntlet was pulled from Alice's forearm and listening to the wet, sticky sounds it made coming off.

The brunette didn't seem bothered by it – typical Alice. She didn't even seem fazed when Chris used some alcohol to clean the entry and exit wounds, then stitched it up.

About the time he was finishing, an unhappy groan came from the blonde woman they were currently detaining. She attempted to move, but couldn't. That got her attention. "What the hell?" she inquired, struggling against her bonds.

"Welcome back to the world," Alice told her, looking over to the blonde. It was a little strange to see the long blonde locks on her – last time she'd seen the woman, it was short black hair.

Jill's attention snapped up to the other three with her. "What's going on?" she asked.

"You don't remember?" Chris questioned in return.

The woman was silent for a moment, thinking back. "I… I do remember," she confirmed. "It was like I couldn't control what I was doing, I didn't have a choice but to obey."

"How did you and those soldiers know how to come here?" Claire asked.

Jill looked over to the redhead. "It was an order… from Albert Wesker," she answered.

Alice, Chris, and Claire all exchanged glances at that, before Alice spoke again. "Wesker? How? We watched his helicopter explode," she pointed out.

"Yeah, that was a nice try Alice, but it didn't work," Jill shook her head. "The order came after he abandoned the helicopter. You didn't see the parachute?"

The brunette visibly slumped in her chair. Wesker was still alive. What was it going to take to kill him? The news was incredibly disheartening. After all of that… she had failed _again_.

A concerned look overtook Claire's features. "Alice, we'll get him," she tried to reassure the brunette.

"Yeah," Alice agreed with a nod, but didn't sound convinced. "Go ahead and let Jill go. We all need to get some rest." She stood up, going to claim the captain's quarters for herself. After all that fighting, she just needed a little bit of time to rest and regroup.

No one complained as she took over the captain's quarters. Chris let Jill go, then they and Claire went down to the main deck to make sure everything was getting properly taken care of and everyone was settling in as well as they could.

"We should probably get this ship moving," Chris eventually told his sister as they observed the cleanup efforts.

"I was thinking the same thing. We're an easy target just sitting here. I don't want to make any definite plans without Alice, but we can at least start moving," Claire replied.

"I'll go set a temporary course, and we can talk to Alice when she comes back out," the man offered. When the redhead agreed, he went to get them moving – it was far better than being a sitting duck off the coast.


	14. Chapter 14

**So everyone should probably send some love to andrella07 for helping me through the writer's block I hit about halfway through this chapter. Apocalyptica - specifically, the song Beautiful - helped quite a bit too.**

**Hopefully everyone enjoys this... I think it's what a lot of you have been waiting for.**

**Love it, hate it? Let me know.**

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Though she'd gone to rest, sleep didn't come. All Alice could manage to do was close her eyes, and she could barely do that. With so much going through her head, it was impossible to even relax.

It bothered her a great deal that Wesker still managed to get away. She'd stabbed him in the head, shot him through the face, and then Chris and Claire shot him over a dozen times. They'd even blown the bastard up with a nuclear device.

Her thoughts wandered back to the knife she had stabbed him with. It was the same one that had gone through her arm. The burning sensation she'd felt… it was just like when…

She brought a hand up and rubbed her eyes as she laid in the comfortable bed the Arcadia's former captain had. Though she couldn't say with honesty that she'd actually felt _human_ again after Wesker's use of the serum, this was different than she'd felt after it.

It was infuriating, being so skeptical of her own body and what was going on with it. She had survived the helicopter crash in Japan, that had to mean that _something_ was still going on with the T-virus. Wesker had admitted that the crash killed him, but the virus brought him back. She hadn't needed to be brought back.

Then there was the prison, the unending horde of undead. It was safe to say that no one else would have made it through the way she had.

That came full circle back to the knife. There had been blood on it before Bennett ever stabbed her. It was the one that had cut into the Umbrella chairman, it was his blood. With his level of infection, whatever the serum had successfully negated must have been reanimated. That was the only explanation for what she was feeling now.

"Damn it," Alice swore lowly, pushing herself into a sitting position on the bed. She didn't know which aspect of the day bothered her more: failing to kill Wesker twice or finally coming to terms with the fact that being human again just wasn't something she'd likely achieve.

Unable to just sit there anymore, she got up and looked around the captain's quarters. She didn't exactly ransack the cabin, but she did go through each and every nook and cranny. Through her searching she found a few items of interest: a bottle of Irish whiskey, a stash of cigarettes, and a couple of Colt Pythons that would likely come in handy.

She hid the alcohol and cigarettes again, deciding they were best to keep to herself for now. Since it felt like the walls were starting to push in on her, she finally vacated the cabin. She'd barely been in there an hour – a very restless hour.

Chris was still in the bridge, looking over one of the computer screens. When he heard movement, he looked up – caution was a hard habit to break. "Hey," he greeted the brunette.

"We're moving?" Alice questioned, walking over to stand beside him.

"Just a temporary course for now," he answered. "We didn't want to set anything in stone without talking to you first, but we didn't think sitting in the same spot was a good idea."

"Sorry that I just walked out like I did," she apologized.

"Don't worry about it. You looked exhausted and don't take this the wrong way, but you still do."

She offered him a mirthless grin as he spoke. "Yeah, well, I'll survive. We can keep the heading we're on right now until we figure out where we're going to go."

"I don't know what exactly Umbrella had powering this ship, but from what I can tell, we probably won't run out of fuel. Ever," Chris told her after a moment.

"That means we can take a day or two to figure things out, maybe even try and relax." She didn't think she'd be able to relax until Wesker was dead.

The man nodded in agreement. "I figure just to be on the safe side we should take turns keeping watch, since Jill said Wesker is still alive."

Having someone verbally point out her failure was like a knife twisting in Alice's chest. The initial outbreak happened on her watch, she'd lost more friends than she cared to admit, and now she'd failed at stopping Umbrella more than once. To subtly divert the subject of their conversation, she glanced out the window, eyes easily locating a particular redhead. "How long has she been out there?"

Chris was surprised by the dead halt that one topic came to, only to give birth to something completely unrelated. "Um… since a few minutes after you went into the cabin," he answered.

After a moment, Alice turned to go back to the captain's quarters. She was going to retrieve a jacket and head down to the deck.

Claire was standing with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring out at the apparently offending waves of the ocean. When she'd seen the Umbrella logo, all of her memories came back in one rushed wave. She remembered everything now, including the 18 months she'd spent alone in the Alaskan wilderness.

That was a long time to spend in a state of nearly constant panic, being unable to remember who she was or what she was even doing there. What bothered her the most wasn't being alone, but just how long she'd been that way.

Alice had promised to come back. Sure, she eventually made it, but a year and a half? If Arcadia had been the sanctuary that was promised, Claire would have had to assume something happened to the other woman after so long. That would have been devastating, more than what had actually happened. The brunette had some explaining to do.

She suddenly felt a jacket being draped around her shoulders. "If you keep looking like that, your face will get stuck that way." The woman that had been invading her thoughts was now standing beside her, teasing her.

Claire had half a mind to shrug out of the offered coat, even though it was very effective at blocking out the wind that had been cutting at her. After a few moments, she pulled it a little tighter around herself, but didn't offer a response.

The silence bothered an already troubled Alice. "Did I… say or do something wrong?" she finally asked.

The redhead finally eased up on her glaring, turning to look at the other woman. "A year and a half, Alice," she said.

Alice was obviously surprised. She had no idea that Claire had remembered. "Yeah… a year and a half," she admitted with a nod, casting her gaze downward. She knew this was a conversation they were going to have at some point, but did it have to be right now?

It didn't seem that Claire was going to back off, even though she could see that the other woman was sorry for what had happened. "I don't even care that Arcadia was a trap. It's really not all that surprising," she said. "But a year and a half, Alice? Would you have come back at all?"

This really wasn't what the brunette had planned for when she came down to the deck with Claire. She supposed she deserved it though. "I wanted to come back sooner, Claire. I really did," she tried to assure the other woman. "A lot happened though."

"Did it?" Claire asked stubbornly. "Then you're going to tell me about everything that happened… _after_ you make up for leaving me alone for eighteen long, cold months."

Alice looked back up to the redhead, quirking a brow. "What?" she inquired after a moment, not sure if she heard right or understood what the other woman was actually saying.

"I spent eighteen month's worth of cold, long nights alone," Claire told her. "And you're going to make it up to me."

"Right now?" Alice inquired.

"Better start now or you'll never make it," the redhead answered with a nod, walking past the brunette to head up to the captain's – now Alice's – quarters.

Alice watched her for a moment before shaking her head and following. That certainly wasn't how she expected their conversation to end. Not at all. It was very promising though.

Claire reached the cabin first, pulling the jacket off as she turned to face the brunette. "I think you should probably lock the door."

Alice couldn't help but grin as she complied with the request. She barely got it locked before she was being turned and soft lips met her own. Her hands easily found the redhead's hips, pulling them closer together.

A tremor ran through Claire as she felt Alice's tongue seeking entrance to her mouth. She quickly granted the other woman access and the kiss deepened impossibly.

The cloth barrier between them was dealt with in a timely manner. Clothing was discarded a piece at a time, left to litter the floor as they made their way toward the bed, losing as little contact as possible in the process.

When Claire felt the back of her legs come into contact with the bed, she dragged the other woman down onto it with her. She pulled back from the kiss long enough for a few breathless words to be whispered. "I need you, Alice."

That was all the invitation that the brunette needed. The world outside the cabin and even time itself stopped as the two lost themselves in one another.

They were adrift in a sea far different from the one the ship was navigating. Every breath, every kiss, every caress gave birth to a fresh tumultuous wave as they free fell through the tides of passion.

It was like dying in each other's arms only to be brought back to do it all over again. Neither knew how much time had passed, but time was of little consequence.

_A few hours later_…

Alice woke to a pleasant tangle of limbs and sheets. She didn't dare try to extract herself from the bed or even move for that matter. Instead, she elected to study the beautiful redhead that was tangled up with her; a real, genuine smile broke across her features. All her unhappy thoughts from earlier were miles and miles away.

With incredible caution, she reached over to pluck a few fallen strands of hair from the other woman's face. Claire had given her one hell of a run for her money. In the end though, they both won.

As if aware that she was being watched, Claire began to rouse. A content sound escaped her as she stretched a bit, opening her eyes to be met by a familiar gaze. It brought a sleepy smile to her features. "Hey," she greeted a bit groggily.

Alice's smile widened when the redhead woke. "If you're still tired, you should get some more rest," she said quietly.

"Think you put me down for the count?" Claire challenged playfully before a yawn escaped her. "Well, you might be right." She moved a bit closer to Alice, wanting to be further in the other woman's embrace. "God, I haven't felt this good in… ever."

"So did I make up for those long, cold nights?" Alice asked. When the redhead moved closer, she tightened grip around the other woman a bit.

Claire considered the question, resting her head on Alice's shoulder so she could consider the other. "It was a start," she finally decided.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Sorry this update took a little longer than the others. Never fear, my dear kiddies, your patience has been rewarded. I hope you enjoy this chapter. As always - love it, hate it? Let me know.**

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Since Chris had been rather involuntarily thrust into the role of watching over everyone, Alice got up and redressed to go and let him get some rest. Claire had gone back to sleep, so that made it just the slightest bit easier to get back out of bed.

When she entered the bridge once more, she found Chris was still sitting there. He seemed much more relaxed this time – he was leaning back in a chair with his feet propped up on a table.

"Comfortable?" she asked, seeming a bit amused.

"As much as I can be," Chris answered, looking over to the brunette.

"You should go find yourself a cabin… get some rest," Alice told him. "I'll take over for a while."

Chris nodded and pulled his feet off of the table. "You don't have to tell me twice. Where'd Claire run off to?" he inquired.

"She's resting right now," Alice covered, perhaps a little too quickly.

He either didn't catch it, or wasn't concerned. "Good. I'll see you in a bit," he said before standing up and heading out.

Alice walked over and sat down in front of one of the computers. She pulled up a map to check their location and current heading. They couldn't simply stay on the Arcadia forever. Technically they could, but no one would want to stay cooped up on the ship for years.

She was going over the map, thinking over their options. Alaska – despite the Arcadia being a trap – was the safe haven that had been promised. The isolated state was flourishing as the rest of the world perished. The cold temperatures and glaciers offered a natural buffer for threats from the main land.

If they really wanted to…

"People can always tell when you're contemplating something serious," Jill interrupted the brunette's thoughts. "Mind if I join you?"

Alice nodded to one of the nearby chairs. "Go ahead."

Jill walked over and sat down in the indicated seat. "I didn't think I'd ever be this happy to be in control of myself," she commented.

The brunette finally pulled her attention away from the computer screen when Jill spoke. "What happened?" she inquired. "How did Umbrella get a hold of you?"

"That's a long story," Jill said after a moment.

"I've got time," Alice replied.

Again, there was a bit of silence. It seemed that the blonde didn't want to talk about what had happened, but Alice didn't really care. "After you up and disappeared, I went off on my own to try and help whatever survivors I could. The world had pretty much ended and there weren't that many survivors left. My time was best spent helping anyone I could find," Jill said.

She had to stop and think back for a moment. Any amount of time these days felt like an eternity. "It was probably about two and a half years later that Chris found me in Baltimore. I had helped a group of people take back a convention center as a safe haven. Chris and I had worked together before and he had information about Albert Wesker. He wanted me to help him go after Wesker and I did. We searched for four months, finding dead end after dead end, but there was always another clue pointing us in the right direction. Finally, we caught up to him. There was a fight… I guess Chris thought Wesker and I were both dead."

"After that, I don't know what happened, but when I woke up again," Jill continued, "I couldn't control any of my actions. I was fully aware of everything, remembered everything, but couldn't do anything about it. He gave an order and I had no choice but to obey."

"The bug that was on you… you said you could remember everything and fully function… Claire had one on her and couldn't remember anything for days. The people being held captive here had them, but it just kept them asleep. Why such a difference coming from the same devices?" Alice asked.

"Probably different drugs," the blonde answered with a shrug.

Alice nodded and turned her attention back to the monitor in front of her. If she hadn't run off, she might have been able to keep Jill from getting caught… or she could have fought Wesker instead and maybe succeeded.

"Whatever happened to Angela?" Jill asked after a bit of silence.

The brunette felt her heart stop beating for a moment when she heard the question. "She's dead… Umbrella killed her," she finally offered up.

Claire walked out just in time to hear about Umbrella killing someone, but that wasn't what she paid attention to – all she heard was Alice's regretful tone. Did she blame herself for _everything_ that had happened? "Did I miss anything?" she asked, driving a wedge straight into the current conversation.

Alice was more than willing to redirect her attention to the redhead when she came out. "I'm just trying to figure out what we can do from here. Umbrella isn't going to stay quiet for long and we can't fight with all of these innocent people aboard," she said.

"Rome wasn't built in a day," Claire pointed out. "You can't expect to figure everything out in five minutes. Have you eaten anything?"

Alice quirked a brow at that. Did the redhead just snap at her? "No… not yet," she answered.

"Then come on. We'll go down to the galley, get something to eat, and then work on figuring things out," Claire told her.

"Go ahead, I'll keep an eye on things up here," Jill chimed in.

The brunette nodded and got up, heading for the staircase that led below deck. As she walked, Claire moved in almost protectively close. "So what were you two talking about?" the redhead inquired once they were below deck.

"We were just… talking," Alice shrugged.

"That's not what it sounded like to me," Claire replied.

"Then I don't know what you heard," the brunette shook her head.

"Alice… _Alice_," Claire reached out and took hold of Alice's arm when the other woman tried to keep going. "You're blaming yourself for everything that has happened. I saw it that night we were sitting around the campfire in the desert."

"Claire, I'm fine," Alice tried to pull away.

The redhead wasn't letting her get away. "This crusade for redemption that you're on… Alice, you don't need it. What's happened to the world isn't your fault. By blaming yourself, you're letting Umbrella win. You can beat the shit out of them all you want, but you're letting them get in your head."

For the moment, Alice was glad that the ship was so big. Despite being out in the open, there was no one else around to hear them. "I could have prevented all of this," she said quietly.

"That might fly with everyone else, but not me," Claire shook her head. "You are just one person. Umbrella is a huge corporation with unlimited resources. One way or another, if this was all meant to happen… it would have happened. Stop blaming yourself."

"Claire, I was right there in the Hive, I could have stopped it," Alice argued.

The redhead let out an exasperated sigh, reaching over to take Alice's hands in her own. "You're too stubborn for your own good," she pointed out. "If you can't manage it for yourself, then stop the blame for me."

Alice couldn't help the affectionate smile that graced her features at that. "The only hope for me… is you."

"See? If none of this happened, then we never would have known each other," Claire replied before pulling the other woman closer to steal a quick kiss. "Now let's go get something to eat." She turned, keeping one of Alice's hands in her own so she could pull the brunette along toward the galley.

Alice followed Claire to the galley. The area opened up into a large mess hall with the kitchen at the back. A few stragglers were making their way out to find themselves a cabin to stay in. There was only one person left in the large room, sitting by himself at one of the tables. "I thought you were supposed to be going to get some rest," Alice said as she and the redhead walked over and joined Chris at the table.

"Yeah, I thought some food might be nice first," Chris replied, looking up from the plate of food in front of him.

The two women were sitting across from him, rather close together. "So what are we going to do?" Claire asked. "I don't think we want to stay on a ship for the rest of our lives."

"I was looking over one of the maps… even if the Arcadia was a trap, I flew over a lot of Alaska to find the location," Alice said. "The rest of the world is a deserted, sand filled wasteland. Alaska, though, it's flourishing. It might be our way to go."

K-Mart walked over, setting a couple of plates in front of Alice and Claire. "Here you go," she said.

"You do this by yourself?" Claire asked the teen.

"I had some help to make enough for everyone," K-Mart answered.

"Thanks," the redhead told her with a nod. The teen turned and headed back to clean up the kitchen. "Now… Alaska?"

"Alaska," Alice nodded. "The glaciers, forests, and cold temperatures looked like they offered a natural buffer from the rest of the continent."

"It might be worth a shot," Chris spoke up. "I mean… worst comes to worst, we still have this ship to fall back on."

"We can stick to areas that had low populations before the outbreak, just to be on the safe side," Alice added. "With an uninfected wildlife population, we can hunt for food. If we can manage to get some solar panels or hydropower going, we can set up some greenhouses to grow food in and out of season…"

"You've put a lot of thought into this," Claire observed.

Alice merely shrugged at that. "Six and a half years… no one has been able to have a real life. I think that's a long enough time."

"I think Alaska is a great idea," Chris said. "If it's really that isolated, it might be the last place we could all be safe. We can set up defenses, just in case. We can hunt and grow our own food, like Alice mentioned. As far as I'm concerned, it's one of the best plans I've ever heard."

"We only have one problem," the brunette pointed out. "Umbrella."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Well... my dear readers, I must request you not take up arms in the form of pitchforks and torches after this announcement: this chapter will be the last in the immediate continuance of the Not Alone timeline. I do have an epilogue planned for this story, so it's not completely over. Oh, and I'm already working on another story that will be posted later tonight or tomorrow - there's that to look forward to as well.**

**Once again, I find the need to offer a shout out to andrella07 whose epic awesomeness helped me perfect this epic chapter.**

**Cheers to all, I hope you enjoy this sixteenth installment. As always... love it, hate it? Let me know.**

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_Some say the world will end in fire,_

_Some say in ice._

_From what I've tasted of desire_

_I hold with those who favor fire._

_But if it had to perish twice,_

_I think I know enough of hate_

_To say that for destruction ice_

_Is also great,_

_And would suffice._

_-Fire and Ice, Robert Frost_

With a plan in mind, everything just seemed to fall into place for the survivors aboard the _Arcadia_. Finally something was going right and going quite easily. All things considered, it was enough to make a certain brunette paranoid.

Things could only go right for so long. It would all have to turn around at some point. That was what she dreaded, when everything turned around and took a dive for the worst. She knew it was going to happen. Wesker was still alive, he'd want revenge, and he'd come after them as soon as he got the best chance.

His best chance was right now. Their hopes were up, a blow like that would devastate already shaky morale. They'd fended off the first wave that Jill had brought in, if Wesker was going to strike again, they'd likely face twice as much Umbrella firepower.

A pair of arms wrapped around her from behind. Alice couldn't help but smile and lean back into the embrace. "You know it's too early to be up and thinking about serious things," Claire said, leaning in to rest her chin on the other woman's shoulder as they sat on the bed together.

"And you know I can't help it," Alice replied.

"It's been two days… we're closing in on Alaska… can't you just relax?" the redhead asked, letting her fingertips run up and down Alice's arm.

"As soon as I relax, that's when something is going to happen," Alice answered.

"Then maybe you should have relaxed yesterday. Nothing happened and you could be all uptight today," Claire teased.

The brunette shook her head, shifting a bit so she could press her lips to Claire's temple. "Very funny."

"Alice, Claire, I need you on the bridge," Chris's voice came over the intercom.

Claire let out a groan of disapproval, tightening her grip on the brunette. "I think he does that on purpose," she grumbled.

Alice chuckled when she heard her lover complain. "If you're right then we'll be able to come back to this nice comfortable bed soon, because there's nothing to worry about," she said.

After a few more arguments from the redhead, the two emerged from their shared quarters. "You rang?" Claire asked her brother once they'd joined him on the bridge.

"I thought you might want to see this," he said, motioning out the windows. There were bits of land beginning to show up over the horizon. "We're getting close to the Alaskan mainland. It won't be much longer now."

"You got us out of bed for a few spits of land…" Claire observed, shaking her head. "You couldn't have just given us a '_land ho!'_ over the intercom?"

"Did we get all of those boats in storage to the deck?" Alice inquired.

"Yeah, whatever we could find is up here," the man answered with a nod. "It looks like Umbrella had about a dozen backups, they're all hooked up and ready for use."

"Good. I don't want to move in before we actually know it's safe," Alice told him. "I won't risk these people's lives." She figured a couple of them could take one of the boats to the shore and scout the area. If it came up all clear, then they could start moving people onto land.

The brunette grabbed a pair of binoculars before going down to the deck as Claire and Chris followed her. "Everything has been quiet… maybe this will all work out after all," Chris said after a moment.

Alice lifted up the binoculars and looked through them at the islands. "Hopefully some positive thinking will have a positive effect," she commented.

"What did we say about the negativity?" Claire chastised the other woman.

Alice was scanning the islands, one after another seemed to pop up over the horizon as the ship churned through the frigid waters. Something caught her attention and creased her brow over the device in her hands. "Sometimes negativity is a good thing," she said.

This caused both of the siblings to frown. "What are you talking about?" Claire asked.

The brunette adjusted the range of the binoculars so she could get a better look. As they got closer, she could feel the confirmation in her gut.

"Alice?" Claire pressed when the other woman didn't respond.

"Have a look for yourself," Alice finally said, offering up the binoculars. "That island there… well, it's actually a volcano." She pointed Claire in the right direction as the other woman looked through them.

It took a few moments to adjust and scan the island to find whatever was amiss, but then the redhead saw it. "Is that…?"

"What is it?" Chris asked them both.

"It looks like a helicopter," Claire answered, pulling the binoculars away from her eyes. "An Umbrella helicopter." She quickly glanced over to her companion, knowing exactly where this was going. "Alice, don't-"

But it was too late. Alice was on the move. She ran to the nearest boat that had been prepped and hit the release. As it plummeted down to the water, she jumped over the side of the ship's rail and dropped into it effortlessly.

"Alice!" Claire shouted from above. That was all Alice heard from them though, because she got the boat's engine going and directed it toward the island in question.

Things with Umbrella were going to end here and now. The only weapons she had on her were the pair of Colt Pythons and a knife, but it would have to do.

Though the waves were choppy, she made great time getting from the ship to the island. As she got closer, it became more and more clear that the helicopter on the rocky, snow covered island really was an Umbrella one.

Alice cut the engine as the boat ran aground, not really caring whether she damaged it or not. It wasn't her only method of getting back to the ship. As she stepped out onto the rocky beach, a man walked around the helicopter into sight.

"Alice… so predictable," Wesker said with a dark chuckle. "Unfortunately for you, it's a fault that you will be unable to work on."

"Let's finish this, Wesker," Alice told him. "Just you and me. There's no reason to pull the others into it."

"If I didn't consider this to be such a personal matter, then I would disagree. I knew you'd jump ship the moment you realized I was already here waiting for you," the man replied, eyes flashing a dangerous shade of red behind his sunglasses. "I could have had hundreds of troops waiting to reclaim my ship… but if I kill you first, the others won't have their great leader to guide them."

"You can try," the brunette challenged him. "But you're not going to be the one to walk away from this."

"I certainly hope you don't expect to walk away," he said with that damned smug grin. He turned his back on her, putting a great deal of distance between them in one leap. With his feet back on the ground, he quickly continued up the side of the volcano.

Alice pursued him on foot, not particularly wanting to play leap frog. The biting cold seemed to dissipate a bit the higher up she got and the layer of snow on the ground got thinner with each step. At the top, she could actually feel heat coming from inside the volcano, though no lava was actually visible.

Wesker was waiting for her. "Fire and ice… fitting, don't you think?" he inquired. "Such things coexist this high off the ground, though they are meant only to coincide in the deepest layer of Hell."

Alice quirked a brow. "Are you referencing Dante at me?" she asked. "You do have a point though… This will be a good test run for where you're going after I kill you."

"I'll save you a spot - right next to me," the man growled, lashing out at Alice without warning.

She didn't expect him to act so quickly and his speed was incredible. The hit felt like it came from a super powered sledgehammer and managed to leave her dazed, even if momentarily.

Before she could get back up, Wesker was at her side, yanking her back to her feet. "It really is too bad I have to kill you. There was such potential if you would have just been a cooperative little Project," he said as he hit her once more.

This time when she collided with the ground, she willed herself to move, to put at least a little more distance between them, but he was just too quick. He was back on her before she could crawl away and his foot connected with her abdomen not once, but three times in such rapid succession that she couldn't be sure of how many times she'd just been assaulted.

Alice spit out a mouthful of blood before rolling onto her back. Wesker didn't give her a reprieve; he reached down and pulled her back to her feet again. "I'm disappointed, Alice. I expected so much more of a fight out of you."

She head butted the man after he spoke, breaking the sunglasses he'd been wearing. "I'm just getting started," she said lowly, swinging her arms around to break his grip on her and push him back a few paces.

Wesker tossed the broken glasses aside and came back at Alice. The two attacked each other, both moving with a flurry of speed and precision. Neither seemed to be landing any substantial hits – they were just moving too fast.

Eventually, the man ducked and swept his leg around to knock Alice off her feet, and succeeded. Once more, he was hovering over her. "Even if you did somehow manage to kill me… don't you know that more would come?" he asked.

Alice braced herself and struck out with both feet, planting both squarely in his gut and sent him staggering back. It gave her just enough room to get back on her feet. "I think they're smart enough to know that I can kill you… so they wouldn't stand a chance in hell."

She moved forward, swinging her fist around, finally connecting for a decent hit. That wasn't all, the temporary fazing left her an opening to flip up and bring her boot in contact with the side of his face.

Wesker's eyes flashed red again as he charged at her. This time he wasn't aiming to directly hit her. Instead, he wanted to grab hold of Alice. She managed to evade a few times, but the last time his feint succeeded in fooling her and he moved in. A hand latched around her throat, lifting her enough that her feet could no longer touch the ground.

Smug grin in place again, he moved them to the inside edge of the top perimeter of the volcano. "How foolish… to actually think you could defeat a _god_," he sneered.

"You are no god," Alice choked out.

He temporarily tightened his grip around her throat before pulling her back enough so he could literally throw her down inside the volcano. The crash – which sounded like nothing short of an explosion when Alice hit the rocky dome inside - reverberated off the inside walls. She left a small crater in the rock where she landed.

The impact knocked the wind out of her, to say the least. It even left her seeing stars for a few moments. Her wits were forced to come back as she heard rocks shifting beneath her, though. She rolled to the side just before the rocks gave way. Intense heat poured forth from the new hole in the dome and she could see the bright orange glow from the magma below.

She couldn't linger in the same spot for long as more of the dome began to fall away. Alice scrambled to her feet, avoiding the places that had been loosened by her impact. Whatever biting cold there had been was now replaced by an inferno.

Seeing that his prey was back on her feet, Wesker dropped down onto what was left of the rocky shield. He had hoped the throw would have been enough to kill Alice, but she was proving to be quite the difficulty. Her impact had even disrupted the dome that had been shielding the lava and it seemed the disturbance had awakened the volcano. _How inconvenient_.

Alice knew she needed to end this before the natural furnace caught up to them.

This time, she didn't wait for Wesker to make the first move. The stakes were far higher now; one misstep and it would be over. She refused to be the one to go down today. She had the Pythons that she'd found on the ship and the knife she always carried. It wouldn't be enough to kill him, but it could aid in knocking him into the fire below.

She moved forward, choosing her steps as carefully as she could while still moving quickly – pieces of rock were still falling away. Once within range, she swung her fist around and he ducked. She brought her knee up and he moved aside. He was just too damn fast.

Her tactics changed as quickly as he moved. She'd try and lure him over to the edge of the slowly crumbling dome. Her attacks weren't meant to actually land on him – it would just be an added bonus if they did. Instead, she lashed out in order to make him step back or to the side, trying not to leave enough time for him to figure out what she was doing.

A hitch was thrown into the plan as he suddenly attacked, kicking her leg and making it give out. She dropped down to one knee, but adjusted for the change. The knife was out in a flash and she drove it as far into his leg as she possibly could.

An irritated grunt left him and he reached down to pull the knife out. The tables were turned on Alice as Wesker brought the weapon down at her. She grabbed his wrist to stop the knife from reaching her.

"Why fight?" he ground out through grit teeth.

"Because I have something to fight for," Alice answered. She propelled herself up using the leg he had not kicked. As she expected, he wasn't prepared for it.

She managed to knock him off balance. Her free hand yanked out one of the Pythons and planted two shots quickly into his chest. The force from the shots pushed him back just far enough that his foot slipped over the edge of the broken dome.

Wesker over compensated, trying to push Alice back so he could get his foot back on solid ground. She was able to use the momentum against him, redirecting the force he used to turn him and make his other foot drop off the side.

As he disappeared over the edge, Alice let out a shaky breath. He had survived everything else, but he certainly couldn't regenerate from this.

After a few moments, she turned to walk away. She didn't manage to take a step as something grabbed her foot. She looked back to see Wesker, holding on to the rock and half consumed by the rising lava.

"Just die already," she said, taking aim and shooting him in the middle of the forehead. His grip on her slowly slackened and he sank back down into the rising lava.

This time she made sure he was fully consumed before walking away. She was bleeding in several places, favored her side, and limped slightly as she slowly climbed back out of the volcano. The first sight she was greeted with was a helicopter heading toward the island. Alice was certain she'd never hear the end of this.

She'd made it about halfway down the side of the volcano when she heard a shout. "Alice!" It was Claire. The redhead jumped from the helicopter and closed the distance between them as quickly as she could. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Alice answered with a nod, letting Claire offer her support once they were close enough.

"I swear to God, Alice, as soon as you're better _I'm_ going to kick your ass for pulling that stunt," the redhead warned.

"Yeah… I love you, too," Alice replied with a faint smile.


	17. Epilogue

_Three years later…_

"You know… I can always tell when you think she's been gone too long," K-Mart commented with a knowing smile.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Claire shook her head. The two were making the usual rounds about the city as dusk settled.

"Yeah right, you know _exactly_ who and what I'm talking about," the blonde leaned over to nudge Claire with her shoulder.

After the fight with Wesker, the survivors aboard the _Arcadia_ were able to reach the Alaskan mainland safely. Once they landed, they had to do some scouting and exploring to find a suitable place to stay.

Things had been rough at first, adjusting to the new settings and being around so many other people. Making a home from the ashes of society and keeping everyone organized was no walk in the park either.

It took nearly a full year – progress was hindered by the winter – to get everyone settled. As they had discussed, they stayed to the areas that had been less populated, just to be on the safe side. Once they got into a rhythm, things went much smoother. The group worked together to make sure they all survived. Civilization had broken down before because it was every man for themselves; the survivors from the _Arcadia_ vowed not to let the same happen to them.

They had a handful ingenious mechanics and electricians that had gotten some solar panels going to power the city. There were enough fresh waters sources – streams and even a river nearby – that, with some work, they were able to take advantage of hydropower too.

Alaska was everything they could have hoped for and more. The wildlife population was uninfected and flourishing by all rights without human interference. With electricity, they could grow fruits and vegetables all year round. They had plenty of food, water, and company.

Chris and a few others had scouted the areas to the east, looking for points where their natural safety barrier wasn't as strong. They wanted to take every precaution to make sure the infection didn't find them again. Eventually, they managed to rig up an automatic system in certain places that they deemed unsafe. With some surveillance, it would offer them yet another safety net.

Alice hadn't taken to the settled life so well though. Umbrella had turned her into weapon and with the full reactivation of the T-virus within her body, that's exactly what she was. It hadn't taken long for her to get antsy. She wanted nothing more than to settle down and have a life with Claire, but there were other forces pulling at her.

* * *

"_You're going to leave?" Claire demanded._

"_Not for long," Alice answered. "There could be other survivors out there, Claire. They could need help. I can help them, but not if I stay here all of the time."_

"_We just got here… we're finally safe," the redhead argued stubbornly. Yes, it was selfish to want Alice to stay with her, but she didn't care. She wanted to know her lover was safe._

"_And what about the other people that could be alive out there? They aren't safe. If I can find them and bring them back here, then they can be safe too."_

"_I hate it when you get this hero thing in your head," Claire stated. "What if you don't come back?"_

"_More than ever, I have a reason to come back. That reason is you," Alice answered. "You gave me the will to fight again and made that unbearable lonely feeling go away."_

_Claire moved closer, wrapping her arms around the blonde. "You're not alone, Alice," she said before leaning in for a loving kiss. "Tell me that you love me, tell me that I take your breath away," the redhead whispered against her lover's lips._

"_I love you, Claire Redfield," Alice vowed. "And you are the very air that I breathe."_

* * *

Alice took the _Arcadia_ and went out to keep the promise that had originally been made. Jill accompanied her, along with a couple of others, to make sure she had enough help while out looking for other survivors. Sometimes they'd be gone little longer than a week, other times – usually when they actually heard from a pocket of survivors – they'd be gone for more than a month.

This time, Alice had been gone for over a month. They'd likely found someone in need of rescue, but that didn't mean Claire approved. She missed the blonde.

"Let's head back home, K," the redhead decided with a heavy sigh. "Everything's all quiet."

"All right," K-Mart agreed with a nod.

The two headed back for the house they had settled in. Claire always found it more lonely when Alice wasn't there to share the house with them. "Go on to bed, get some rest," she told the younger woman.

"Yes, _Mother_," the girl replied with a grin before heading upstairs.

Claire headed to the kitchen to clean up the dishes from earlier that day. The longer Alice stayed away, the more she found herself just going through the motions again. She understood why the brunette was hell bent on going and helping anyone else she could find. Despite Claire's best efforts to put a stop to it, the other woman still seemed to be on a quest for redemption.

At least she stayed home longer after these extended escapades – and she always thoroughly made up for the absence. If Claire rubbed it in enough, the brunette spent more time making it up.

No matter how much the redhead tried to deny it, K-Mart was right. And why wouldn't she be? The girl, more than anyone else, could see the differences when Alice was and was not there. She lived with the two older women, watched them interact with one another. Of course she was right.

After clearing away the dishes and putting everything back in order, Claire decided to retire for the night as well. She'd grab a quick shower, and then will sleep to bring her another good dream that would help tide her over until Alice's return.

Making sure that everything was secure before heading to bed was a force of habit that not even three years could break. She made a quick round of the lower level before going upstairs.

One of the best things about Alaska was running water. That was incredibly close to being heaven and was one of the first things they had set up.

Tonight she was painfully aware of how lonely her bed was going to be. She didn't know why the day had been so hard; it was just like any other day. Her main priority was to take a quick shower and get into bed. If Alice wasn't with her now, she'd be waiting in the redhead's dreams.

The first part to Claire's plan was easy enough to accomplish. Though she swore to never take hot water for granted again, she didn't take very long with it – especially when she didn't have a certain brunette to keep her company.

Ten minutes under the warm spray was all it took for her to clean herself up. She half-heartedly dried her hair before wrapping a towel around herself and stepping back out into the bedroom. Something was amiss though. The lights were out. Sure, they had little power outages every now and again, but she could see the lights on outside.

Claire tensed considerably as a pair of arms slipped around her from behind. Her apprehension didn't allow the familiar figure to register in her mind.

"You're a little uptight," Alice jibed playfully.

"Jesus," the redhead sighed, melting back against her lover. "I could slap you for that."

"I'm sure that's not the only reason you want to slap me," the brunette replied.

Claire carefully turned in Alice's arms to face the other woman. "You were gone a long time. I'm going to have to have _another_ talk with Jill about keeping you away from me for so long."

"You can talk to her about it in the morning," Alice said with a nod. "For now, I just want to go to bed with you."

"And who says I haven't taken a liking to having the whole bed to myself?" Claire inquired, quirking a brow.

The brunette couldn't help the mischievous grin that formed. "Because I know you're not going to turn me out of the bed when I have so much time to make up for," she answered.

Claire considered it before smirking. "Then come make it up to me," she said, pulling Alice back toward the bed with her.

* * *

**Well, dear readers, this is the end. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing this story for you. I even added in this happy ending epilogue for you all.**

**If you wish to read more of my work, I do have another story in progress right now - Going Rogue. So if you want more action, go check it out.**

**Love it, hate it? Let me know what you thought of the end.**


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